The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

BY Shane Stokes

The launch of the Sean Kelly Cycling Team along with the 2007 Tour de France look certain to give Irish cycling a much-needed boost.

The 2007 Tour de France will start in London on July 6 in a two-day first stage of the annual cycling showpiece.

This will be only the second time the world’s biggest annual sporting event will start outside continental Europe, Ireland having hosted the first Grand Départ in 1998.

The significance for Irish cycling is that there is a real possibility at least one Irish rider could be present in the 2007 Tour lineup.

Mark Scanlon, Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche are all currently riding for the top-ranked ProTour teams which should automatically qualify.

Details of the route for the 2007 Tour will not be confirmed until February 9. But the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone suggested it will be similar to that described in the original bid document with a prologue time trial based on The Mall and then a full road stage from London to Kent.

The Sean Kelly Racing Team will be based in the Kelly Cyc-

ling Academy in Merchtem in Belgium in order to enable riders to compete in top-class competition several times a week.

The riders will regularly line-out against well-known professional teams. Supported by several Irish and international backers, including businessman Martin Donnelly, the development squad currently features eight Irish riders and seven Belgians.

The former includes Irish U-23 champion Paídi O’Brien, first-year senior Ciaran Kelly and the talented 22-year-old Tim Cassidy who recorded several good results last year while racing with the French VC La Pomme club.

FBD Insurance Rás stage winner Roger Aiken, Mark Cassidy, Andrew McQuaid and the Concannon brothers Eoin and Micheal complete the Irish contingent. Two or three others will be taken on during the season.

The goal of the team is to increase the chances of young Irish riders making the breakthrough to big professional squads. Although the team is a step below fully-fledged pro status the healthy budget and good organisation means it will be run along the same lines as the bigger teams and has a good chance of expanding in 2007.rs.