The An Post Chain Reaction team will be in action over the coming week in the U.K. and France and in-form Damien Shaw has been named on the starting line-ups for both the one-day Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic (1.2) and Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste (2.2).
Shaw won the opening stage of the Tour du Loir et Cher (2.2) last week and held the yellow jersey for a number of stages before going on to finish 6th overall. It was a remarkable result for the Mullingar man considering he had been out of action in the opening months of the season due to injury.
The Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic takes place this Sunday, and Shaw will race alongside teammates Sean McKenna (IRL), Premislav Kasperkiewicz (POL), Bas Tietema (NED), Jacob Scott (GBR), and Massimo Vanderaerden (BEL).
The team then heads to Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste which takes place from Tuesday 25th April – Monday 1st May and the team will be competing there for the first time.
The team head to Rutland in fine form, with Shaw, Scott and Kasperkiewicz all impressing their team manager, Kurt Bogaerts: “The guys are all riding at a really good level. Damien’s win was a massive boost to the team and something we worked hard for. The Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic will be a different test. It is a technical race with spectacular off road sections which will suit a lot of the riders.”
Bogaerts touched on the importance of visiting the UK: “This is a really nice UCI race. There are not so many of this type in Ireland and the UK so when there is the opportunity to compete we always try to go.”
With just under a month to go until the An Post Rás, Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste will be an important test for the riders and Bogaerts believes this to be crucial for the Irish stage race: “Bretagne will be a good way to see the level of the guys and should be a great build up to An Post Rás. This will be our last major tour before we head to Ireland for the Rás in May.”
Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic line-up:
Damien Shaw (IRE)
Sean McKenna (IRE)
Premislav Kasperkiewicz (POL)
Bas Tietema (NED)
Jacob Scott (GBR)
Massimo Vanderaerden (BEL)
Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste line-up:
Damien Shaw (IRE)
Matthew Teggart (IRE)
Sean MacKinnon (CAN)
Bas Tietema (NED)
Massimo Vanderaerden (BEL)
Premislav Kasperkiewicz (POL)
