Sean Kelly Team gets together in the sun

Sean Kelly always seemed in a hurry to head for the sunshine at the beginning of the season, at least if his seven wins in "The race to the sun" - Paris-Nice - are anything to go by. Now, the team that carries his name is also heading for warmer climes as Ireland's Sean Kelly team starts a ten-day training camp in Benidorm, on Spain's Costa Blanca.

Most of the team's riders have trained and raced together on an ad-hoc basis over the past year, but this camp will be their first official get-together as a team.

"The lads are excited to get this trip underway," said team director Sean Kelly. "The fanfare of the launch on Monday is now forgotten and it's time for the boys to get down to some serious work. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors we have the funding to provide camps like this which are very important if The Sean Kelly Team members are to be given the same opportunities as other Continental teams."

Following its training camp, the team hopes to compete for the first time some time in mid-February.