Gallagher signs with Sean Kelly team

Irishman Stephen Gallagher will return to Europe in 2007 as a member of the Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn & Donnelly – Sean Kelly team based in Merchtem, Belgium. Manager Kurt Bogearts said, "Stephen is a very strong rider and one of the very best Irish riders around. He is strong and has plenty of experience and I think if he can come to form and focus he could really do something here at the Sean Kelly team." Gallagher has extensive Belgian racing experience after being a member of the Flanders-Afin squad in 2004 and 2005.

After recovering from a hernia operation at the end of this season, Gallagher has been training in Australia. He will kick off 2007 racing with the 715km, six-day Tour of Qatar in Doha in late January.

Of his signing, Gallager said, "It’s great to know that a legend like Sean Kelly has faith in my abilities as a rider. It’s been hard at the tail end of this year with a necessary operation for a hernia but if ever I needed a morale boost, this is it!"