An Post–Chain Reaction () is a

UCI continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

professional

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

registered in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, based at the Sean Kelly Academy in Merchtem,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

. The team participates on the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

. The squad is managed by Kurt Bogaerts and Sean Kelly with

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is s ...

Andy Vanhoudt. The team disbanded at the end of the 2017 season, after they failed to find sponsorship.

History

The team began in 2006 with the name Sean Kelly ACLVB–M Donnelly as the first Irish professional cycling team. Shortly after its launch another Irish continental team was launched, Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn. For the 2007 season, these two teams merged to form the Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn–M Donnelly–Sean Kelly squad. The team achieved several good results including second overall in the Rás Tailteann with

Paídi O'Brien Páidí O'Brien (born 13 February 1984 in Cork, Ireland) is an Irish professional cyclist. He won the National Under-23 Road Race Championships twice, and in the senior National Road Race Championships, O'Brien has twice came second and third ...

. At the end of 2007, it was announced that An Post would replace Murphy & Gunn as main sponsor while

Grant Thornton Grant Thornton is the world's seventh-largest by revenue and sixth-largest by number of employees professional services networks, professional services network of independent accounting and Management consulting, consulting member firms which ...

replacing the Newlyn group as a co-sponsor. For the 2008 season, the team became more international with four Belgians, two Britons, one Swede and one German joining the six Irish riders. The team took its biggest win when Stephen Gallagher won the general classification of the Rás Tailteann. It has also taken overall victories in Vuelta a Extremadura ( Daniel Lloyd), Tour des Pyrénées ( Daniel Fleeman), and Ronde de l'Oise (Steven Van Vooren). The team began as an Irish-registered team, becoming Belgian-registered between 2010 and 2013, primarily to gain access to races in Belgium. The team became Irish-registered again in 2014. After failing to find sponsorship for the 2018 season, the team was forced to disband. Despite this the team are still looking for sponsorship to compete in the 2018 season.

UCI Europe tour

The SKT team was UCI ranked 31st out of 125 teams at the end of the 2009 UCI Europe Tour season with 481 points. The team was ranked 46th out of 110 teams on the

rankings for 2010 with 314 points. It improved ranking to 21st out of 114 teams in 2011 with 648 points, with the team's highest points scorers being Mark McNally with 125 and Andrew Fenn, who scored 122. The team had their best ever season in 2012, finishing 16th out of 125 teams in the final rankings on 879 points. Gediminas Bagdonas was the team's highest points scorer with 346 points, a tally that was good enough to put him in tenth place in the individual standings.

Niko Eeckhout Niko Eeckhout (born 16 December 1970) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1992 and 2013. He was the 2005–2006 UCI Europe Tour series and the 2006 Belgian National Cycling Championship Road R ...

contributed 187 points to the tally, while Kenneth Vanbilsen scored 131. In 2013 the team finished 28th overall with a total of 341 points.

Team roster

As at 31 December 2017

Major wins

;2008 :Overall Vuelta a Extremadura, Daniel Lloyd ::Stage 1, Team Time Trial :Overall FBD Insurance Rás, Stephen Gallagher :Overall

Tour des Pyrénées The Tour des Pyrénées was a road bicycle race held annually in France and Spain. It was organized as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Winners References UCI Europe Tour races Cycle races in France 1995 establishmen ...

, Daniel Fleeman ;2009 :Stages 4 & 5 Vuelta a Extremadura,

:Stage 1 FBD Insurance Rás,

:Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Steven Van Vooren : Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem,

Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen (previously GP Rik Van Steenbergen) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Arendonk, Belgium. The race, paying respect to the famous Belgian rider of the 1940s and 1950s, quickly gained importa ...

;2010 : Irish Road Race Championship, Matt Brammeier :Stage 5 Étoile de Bessèges,

:Stage 3 Ronde de l'Oise,

:Stage 3 FBD Insurance Rás,

David O'Loughlin David O'Loughlin (born 29 April 1978 in County Mayo, Ireland) is an Irish former professional cyclist, who rode at the World Championship (in both Road and Track disciplines) and Olympic levels, and won Ireland's first UCI World Cup Track meda ...

:Stage 7 FBD Insurance Rás,

Mark Cassidy Mark Cassidy (born 23 March 1985) is a former Irish professional cyclist who rode for the team. Major results ;2011 – *10th, Ireland National Cycling Championships, Irish National Road Race Championship (CN) *40th overall, An Post Rás (2.2) ...

;2011 : Time Trial Championships, Gediminas Bagdonas :Stage 2 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen,

:Stage 7 Tour de Bretagne Cycliste, Andrew Fenn :Overall An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas ::Stages 2 & 4, Gediminas Bagdonas :

Memorial Van Coningsloo The Memorial Van Coningsloo (also named Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo) is a European single day cycle race held each year with the start in Wavre and finish in Rijmenam. The race was first organized in 1993 to commemorate local amateur cyclist ...

, Andrew Fenn :Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Gediminas Bagdonas ::Stage 2, Gediminas Bagdonas : GP Stad Geel, Sam Bennett :Overall Mi-Août en Bretagne, Mark McNally :Stage 7 Tour of Britain, Gediminas Bagdonas ;2012 : Road Race Championships, Gediminas Bagdonas : Kattekoers, Roy Jans : Ronde van Noord-Holland, Gediminas Bagdonas : Omloop der Kempen,

:Stages 3 & 8 An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas :

, Gediminas Bagdonas : Schaal Sels,

;2013 :Stage 5 Tour of Britain, Sam Bennett :Stage 2 An Post Rás,

Shane Archbold Shane William Archbold (born 2 February 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Born in Timaru, Archbold competed in the men's omnium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and won the gold medal i ...

:Stages 3 & 8 An Post Rás, Sam Bennett :Stage 2 Ronde de l'Oise, Glenn O'Shea : Under-23 Road Race Championships, Jack Wilson ;2014 :Stage 1 An Post Rás,

Robert-Jon McCarthy Robert-Jon McCarthy (born 30 March 1994) is an Irish-Australian former road cyclist, who competed professionally between 2014 and 2019 for the , , and teams. He was born in Cork and moved to Australia with his family when he was 14. McCarthy ...

: Under-23 Time Trial Championships, Ryan Mullen : Road Race Championships, Ryan Mullen : Under-23 Road Race Championships, Ryan Mullen ;2015 :Stage 3 Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, Josh Edmondson :Stages 2 & 5 An Post Rás,

Aaron Gate Aaron Gate (born 26 November 1990) is a New Zealand road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He represented his country in track cycling at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Gate is the first New Zealand a ...

:Stages 4 & 8 An Post Rás,

Aidis Kruopis Aidis Kruopis (born 26 October 1986) is a Lithuanian former professional road cyclist. Major results ;2005 : 3rd Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Track Championships ;2006 : 3rd Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Track Championships : 8 ...

:Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Josh Edmondson ::Stage 4, Josh Edmondson : Time Trial Championships, Ryan Mullen : Road Race Championships,

: Antwerpse Havenpijl,

;2017 : Under-23 Time Trial Championships, Regan Gough : Under-23 Road Race Championships, Regan Gough :Stage 1

Tour du Loir et Cher The Tour du Loir-et-Cher is a cycling stage race that takes place in the Loir-et-Cher region of France. The race traditionally starts and finishes in the capital of Blois. Since at least 2009, the final stage has consisted of a 12-lap circuit ra ...

, Damien Shaw :Stage 5 Tour de Bretagne, Przemysław Kasperkiewicz :Stage 3 An Post Rás, Matthew Teggart :Stage 5 An Post Rás, Regan Gough :Stage 8 An Post Rás, Przemysław Kasperkiewicz