An Post Chain Reaction Sean Kelly Racing team will be in action over the coming days as they saddle up for the 57th Tour du Loir et Cher E Provost (2.2) in France. The five stage race will commence tomorrow and conclude on Sunday, the 17th of April.

Irish duo David Montgomery and Jack Wilson have been named as part of five man team and will line out alongside Belgian pair Nicolas Vereecken and Emiel Wastyn with Aussie rider Jordan Stannus (AUS) making up the final position.

Before signing with An Post at the beginning of the year, Montgomery was best known for his exploits off-road as a national cyclocross champion. An Post Directeur Sportif, Kurt Bogaerts says that the inclusion of the Banbridge man, is a testament to how hard he has worked and his appetite to learn has not gone unnoticed.

“David (Montgomery) is improving every day and it’s a delight to see. During our first training camp he was struggling with positioning in the groups but he has worked hard to rectify that. He is a brilliant climber and an extremely strong rider physically. He finished eighteenth in Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften (1.Ncup) in Flanders last week which is a race with a high reputation. It was the best result for any Irish rider that day, so that will do his confidence the world of good.”

The Irish-based team are in a confident mood after their most successful result of the year came last week in Circuit des Ardennes International (2.2). Nicolas Vereecken secured a stage two victory in a pulsating bunch sprint to the line and finished third overall in the general classification. Bogaerts is hoping that they can replicate the strong team performance that was on show;

“Nicolas (Vereecken) has been riding extremely well all year, securing a lot of top ten finishes. The way he has been performing every week, it was only a matter of time before he got off the mark and won a stage. It’s great motivation for the team seeing Nicolas win as they weren’t in the best position for large parts of the stage. But they managed to haul it back and thankfully, put Nicolas in a position to go for the win, which was really great to see.”

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