The An Post Chain Reaction Cycles team have announced that they will not be competing in 2018 as they were unable to secure a sponsorship agreement by the 31 October deadline. However, they have stated that they are still continuing to work towards achieving Pro Continental status by 2019.
The announcement was made this morning and follows on from negotiations the team with had with a number of potential sponsors over the last few months.
In the statement from the team, they said that: “considering the team’s strong links to Spain and the United Kingdom, the implications of BREXIT and the political scenario in Catalunya impacted the decisions of interested parties.”
Earlier this season, the team’s headline sponsor An Post announced that they would not be continuing their sponsorship of the team, which they have funded since 2008.
An Post Chain Reaction Statement:
Unfortunately, time has worked against us to secure a sponsorship agreement before the October 31st deadline to compete in 2018. However, we continue to look towards 2019 and the goal of advancing to the Pro Continental level with enthusiasm.
Despite this disappointment, the decade long relationship the team shared with An Post not only contributed to the team’s success but also to the development of the sport within Ireland, for which we are most grateful. The An Post Rás provided an annual platform to showcase the team and our riders to the people of Ireland and further afield.
This in turn encouraged more people to follow our great sport. More recently we had the addition of Chain Reaction Cycles as co- sponsor. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our title sponsors, our secondary sponsors, Cycling Ireland and Centre CENIT who provided our riders with the hands-on care and knowledge to get the very most from their natural ability.
It has been our pleasure to work with talented riders and to see them succeed and develop. We created an environment which nurtured honest hard work combined with determination. This facilitated the progression of Irish riders like Sam Bennett, Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Matt Brammeier, each of whom made the transition to the top levels of our sport, along with riders from other nations such as Gediminas Bagdonas, Aaron Gate, Shane Archbold and our most recent success story Przemek Kasperkiewicz.
We are resigned to not making the start line for the 2018 season, but our goals remain the same: to advance to the highest ranks of professional road cycling. Considering the team’s strong links to Spain and the United Kingdom, the implications of BREXIT and the political scenario in Catalunya impacted the decisions of interested parties but we remain undeterred. Our next objective is to secure a collaboration with a suitable sponsor by July of next year with the hope of returning to the International peloton with a strong and dedicated roster of talented riders.
We would like to thank our fans and supporters for their unrelenting encouragement and good will towards the team and look forward to giving you something to cheer for again in the not too distant future.
Sean Kelly and Kurt Bogaerts – Team Founders
