An Post–Chain Reaction

An Post–Chain Reaction was a UCI continental professional cycling team registered in the Republic of Ireland, based at the Sean Kelly Academy in Merchtem, Flanders. The team participates on the UCI Europe Tour. The squad is managed by Kurt Bogaerts and Sean Kelly with directeur sportif 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. At the end of 2007, it was announced that An Post would replace Murphy & Gunn as main sponsor while Grant Thornton replacing the Newlyn group as a co-sponsor.

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.

2008 season
For the 2008 season, the team became more international with four Belgians, two Britons, one Swede and one German joining the six Irish riders.

Daniel Lloyd was the general classification winner and the team was victorious on stage 1, a team time trial, at the 2008 Vuelta a Extremadura. Paidi O'Brien, Benny De Schrooder and Lloyd all wore the leader's jersey during the race, the latter taking overall victory by 36 seconds.

2008 also saw overall victories for Stephen Gallagher at the FBD Insurance Ras in Ireland and Daniel Fleeman at the Tour des Pyrénées which raced from France to Spain. Lloyd and Fleeman left the team after the 2008 season, both joining.

2009 season
The team took six professional victories in 2009. Five of those victories were taken by Niko Eeckhout with three stage and two one-day race wins. Steven Van Vooren took the other with overall victory at Ronde de l'Oise.

2010 season
The team claimed their first national championship in 2010 with Matt Brammeier taking the first of his four consecutive victories in the Irish National Cycling Championships road race. Nico Eeckhout took stage wins in the Ronde de l'Oise and Etoile de Bessèges, and Mark Cassidy and David O'Loughlin both won a stage at the FBD Insurance Ras.

2011 season
Lithuanian rider Gediminas Bagdonas joined the team for 2011 and quickly established himself as a stand-out performer. Bagdonas delighted the team's title sponsor at Rás Tailteann, known that year as An Post Rás, with wins on stages two and four on his way to the overall victory. He won a stage and also the overall at Ronde de l'Oise before taking the first of his three Lithuanian National Time Trial Championships titles. He rounded out a fine year with victory on stage seven ahead of a high-quality field at the 2011 Tour of Britain.

An Post signed the promising Irish sprinter Sam Bennett who quickly showed his quality with second place on stage one of An Post Rás. The future holder of wins at all three Grand Tour races would take his first victory for the team at Grote Prijs Stad Geel. Andrew Fenn took a stage at Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste and won the one-day race Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo. Nico Eeckhout had a quieter season, his sole victory coming early in the season at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Mark McNally claimed overall victory at the Mi-août en Bretagne.

Ranking performance
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 UCI Europe Tour 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 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, Daniel Fleeman


 * 2009
 * Stages 4 & 5 Vuelta a Extremadura, Niko Eeckhout
 * Stage 1 FBD Insurance Rás, Niko Eeckhout
 * Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Steven Van Vooren
 * Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem, Niko Eeckhout
 * Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, Niko Eeckhout


 * 2010
 * 🇮🇪 Irish Road Race Championship, Matt Brammeier
 * Stage 5 Étoile de Bessèges, Niko Eeckhout
 * Stage 3 Ronde de l'Oise, Niko Eeckhout
 * Stage 3 FBD Insurance Rás, David O'Loughlin
 * Stage 7 FBD Insurance Rás, Mark Cassidy


 * 2011
 * 🇱🇹 Time Trial Championships, Gediminas Bagdonas
 * Stage 2 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Niko Eeckhout
 * Stage 7 Tour de Bretagne Cycliste, Andrew Fenn
 * Overall An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas
 * Stages 2 & 4, Gediminas Bagdonas
 * Memorial Van Coningsloo, 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, Niko Eeckhout
 * Stages 3 & 8 An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas
 * Memorial Van Coningsloo, Gediminas Bagdonas
 * Schaal Sels, Niko Eeckhout


 * 2013
 * Stage 5 Tour of Britain, Sam Bennett
 * Stage 2 An Post Rás, Shane Archbold
 * 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
 * 🇮🇪 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
 * Stages 4 & 8 An Post Rás, Aidis Kruopis
 * Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Josh Edmondson
 * Stage 4, Josh Edmondson
 * 🇮🇪 Time Trial Championships, Ryan Mullen
 * 🇱🇹 Road Race Championships, Aidis Kruopis
 * Antwerpse Havenpijl, Aidis Kruopis


 * 2017
 * 🇳🇿 Under-23 Time Trial Championships, Regan Gough
 * 🇳🇿 Under-23 Road Race Championships, Regan Gough
 * Stage 1 Tour du Loir et Cher, 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

National champions

 * 2010
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Road Race Matt Brammeier


 * 2011
 * MaillotLituania.PNG Lithuania Time Trial Gediminas Bagdonas


 * 2012
 * MaillotLituania.PNG Lithuania Road Race Gediminas Bagdonas


 * 2013
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Under-23 Road Race Jack Wilson


 * 2014
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Under-23 Time Trial Ryan Mullen
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Road Race Ryan Mullen
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Under-23 Road Race Ryan Mullen


 * 2015
 * MaillotIrlanda.PNG Ireland Time Trial Ryan Mullen
 * MaillotLituania.PNG Lithuania Road Race Aidis Kruopis


 * 2017
 * MaillotNuevaZelanda.PNG New Zealand Under-23 Time Trial, Regan Gough
 * MaillotNuevaZelanda.PNG New Zealand Under-23 Road Race, Regan Gough