23 Sep 2011
We had a busy day today which started with the Women’s Junior race... There were a few crashes and a brake away of two girls who stayed ahead until 500 metres to go and it ended with a bunch sprint.
After that the U23 event started and that was the most important event for me as we had three of the team’s riders taking part. There was a lot of nervous faces at the start!
The race was aggressive with a good few brakeaways. Philip Lavery was also trying to break away quite a few times. The race went well and we had two riders left with a chance at the end – Sam Bennett & Andy Fenn…
There were crashes on the last lap and unfortunately Sam lost ground because of that. Andy had a good placing heading into the final sprint. His British teammate lead him out well and… he finished 3rd!!
First to place went to France. I was really hoping for a result like this and it made me a very a happy manager. It really makes the end of a successful season even sweeter!!
23 Sep 2011
We got up early today to go to the road race circuit, which is about 16km from the start of the Time Trial and we met with the Irish squad there.
The first thing I noticed was that it is an uphill finish. When we arrived the World Championship organisation were putting everything together for the race tomorrow including barriers, banners, the finish line, commentating boxes at the finish, different boxes at the finish for all the national teams and VIP areas.
There were a lot of teams out this morning… we met team Belgium, Thailand, Korea, Sweden, Denmark and the Swiss team with Cancellara. The circuit goes downhill first then there’s a few corners followed by a small climb.
The roads are really good. By the time the riders get to the finish they will have the wind blowing in their face which will be difficult with the ascent...
The circuit itself is not that difficult though. All our guys look in good shape and are looking forward to the race tomorrow. They did about 5 practice laps today... It was dry again this morning and rain would make it harder and also more dangerous around the corners. Top 10 is the target now but we’ll aim for better and it’s definitely possible!!
21 Sep 2011
Unfortunately I had some bad luck yesterday as some of my bags including a laptop were stolen... Got to get that sorted with police later...
However, the elite Time Trial took place today and thankfully it stayed dry all day despite there being a lot of wind. Bagdonas had a really good effort but it would have been better if perhaps he had one more day of recovery after the Tour of Britain.
It was an interesting race and only after a long time Cancellara was finally beaten by Tony Martin, like I said yesterday he’s an ex winner of the An Post Rás only 9sec in front of previous An Post team member Paidi O Brien that year. In second place was Bradley Wiggins.
The U23 riders today did their first training session in Denmark too. Sam was testing his new bike, so that all went well. Tommorow is day off, so me and Sean are going to have a look at the roadrace circuit.
I just got a phone call from Belgium, where the team was riding in a UCI 1.1 called the Lichtervelde - Mark McNally finished second behind Van Keirsbilck of Quick Step. Nice ride! I’m counting the day down now to the U23 RR on Friday will be interesting event, it’s always good to see some potential young talent for the team...
20 Sep 2011
I arrived at the hotel late last night and then headed to the different team hotels to deliver equipment to the guys. After that I headed to the accreditation centre to get my access pass. The first member of the An Post team has arrived – Gediminas Bagdonas, and the rest arrive here this afternoon.
I saw Sean Downey’s good result in the U23 TT yesterday. He’s a potential recruit for the team next year. The event was dominated by the Australian riders who got 1st and 3rd place. Sam's bike frame should arrive any minute, so that’s all on schedule! Looking forward to the elite time trial tomorrow, with Bagdonas who is in good form at the moment, hopefully he has recovered well after the Tour of Britain.
Also I expect there will be an interesting battle between Cancellara and Tony Martin( ex winner of the An Post Rás). Weather here is cloudy but dry….time to have some lunch with Sean now! This afternoon we have the women’s elite Time Trial...
19 Sep 2011
I’ve had an exciting few days! Yesterday was the last day of the Tour of Britain, which was a race that went really well for the team. The guys rode very aggressively every day and we got a stage win through Gediminas Bagdonas, as well as Pieter Ghyllebert winning the Sprints Jersey. Ronan also won an award for the most aggressive rider of the day on the final stage, so I was a happy team manager!
On my way home a got a phonecall off the person who was managing the other An Post team who were racing in Belgium and unfortunately there was some bad news, as Sam Bennett, who has been selected for the World Championships, had a crash.
Today was a busy day getting ready to travel to the Worlds - I got back to Belgium around 2am. This morning I checked the damage on Bennett’s bike and noticed it was a broken frame and shifter, so I called our bike sponsor Dolan. They’re sending out a new frame which should arrive tomorrow morning in Denmark – just in time!
All the materials and bikes have been packed into the van now and I’ve started my 910 kilometre drive to Copenhagen…. After a small ferry trip at the end, I hope to be there around midnight. Hopefully we have some more good luck at the Worlds for our selected riders; Fenn, Sam, Lavery in the u23 road race, and Bagdonas in the TT and RR pro. Gediminas will be the first in action on Wednesday....