Feature Articles
Fifty years ago this week, Eddy Merckx took his first pro win
By Graham Healy On May 11th 1965, 20 year-old Eddy Merckx took the win in a race in Northern Brussels, the GP Stad Vilvoorde, and it was the first win of many in a remarkable career. Merckx had a very successful amateur career and in his final season before turning pro, he finished in twelfth position at the 1964 Summer Olympics....
Wheels in Unison – The documentary about Stephen Roche’s Rás win
In 1979, Stephen Roche became the youngest winner of the Rás Tailteann (or The Health Race) as it was known then, beating the Frenchman Breure and fellow Dubliner, Alan McCormack. Roche took two stage wins along the way, the second stage from Longford to Westport and the penultimate stage, a 25-kilometre time-trial in Navan. That year, the national broadcaster RTE,...
Looking back at Shay Elliott’s epic stage win in the Four Days of Dunkirk
By Graham Healy The Four Days of Dunkirk which is taking place at the moment was first organised in 1955, and the field in that inaugural race, which was won by Louis Deprez, wasn't exactly the strongest However, the race quickly grew in stature and within a couple of years many of the biggest names in the sport lined up...
“You just need to get away from life for a couple of hours and get on the bike” Bressie talks cycling
We caught up recently with Bressie, one of the 2015 ambassadors of the An Post Cycle Series, to talk about his growing interest in cycling. The singer, judge on The Voice of Ireland and former rugby and GAA player spoke to us about training, his future plans and what appeals to him about the sport. We first of all...
The most unbelievable Fleche Wallonne ever (VIDEO)
By Graham Healy To say that the 1994 Fleche Wallone raised eyebrows would be to put it mildly. The Italian Moreno Argentin and two of his Gewiss team-mates, Evgeni Berzin and Giorgio Furlan filled the podium, but it was the manner of the win which was astounding. The trio just rode away from the rest of the peloton with 69...
Looking back at the closest Paris-Roubaix ever
Arguably the closest ever finish in a monument was the 1990 Paris-Roubaix, when a photo finish was needed to determine the winner. An elite group formed that day after the Forest of Arenberg which included five from the Panasonic team. With nearly one hundred kilometres of the race still left, one of that team, the Belgian Eddy Planckaert attacked, and...
The cyclist who got drunk and won the Tour of Flanders (Book extract)
In 1919, a young Flemish cyclist named Henri “Ritte” van Lerberghe had just finished service with the Belgian Army when he arrived at the start line of the Tour of Flanders without a bike. At the start in Ghent, he managed to borrow a bicycle. He told the other riders that he would ride them all off his wheel, and...
A look back at Sean Kelly’s win in Gent-Wevelgem in ’88 (VIDEO)
By Graham Healy By 1988, one of the few classics which Sean Kelly hadn't won was Ghent-Wevelgem. The main reason was that the race had always clashed with the Tour of the Basque Country which was a regular race on Kelly's race schedule due to sponsor commitments. However, when the 1988 professional calendar was being drawn up, the organisers of Ghent-Wevelgem...
Former Olympic athlete Marian Heffernan talks about the appeal of cycling
Amongst the ambassadors for the recently launched An Post cycle series in Ireland is former international athlete Marian Heffernan. The 400 metre runner competed for Ireland in the 4 x 400m relay at the London Olympics in 2012. She is also a former national women's 400m champion. Since retirement, Marian has been involved in coaching her husband Rob, who won...
Sean Kelly wins on the Col d’Eze in the ’82 Paris-Nice (VIDEO)
Paris-Nice finishes on the Col d'Eze today, and it was a climb that Irish riders won on from 1981 to 1989 in the Race to the Sun, with Sean Kelly taking five wins to Stephen Roche's four. We look back at Kelly's first victory on the climb in 1982. Following on from Stephen Roche's overall win in the 1981 Paris-Nice,...
It’s 25 years since the last Irish stage win in Paris-Nice (VIDEO)
Throughout the 1980s, two Irish riders were dominant in Paris-Nice. Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly won the race consecutively from 1981 to 1988. However, there has been no Irish winner since, and in fact the last individual Irish stage win was 25 years ago, when Stephen Roche won the final stage of the 1989 race on the Col d'Eze. Miguel...
The year when Paris-Nice finished in Rome
By Graham Healy Paris-Nice was established in 1933 by Albert Lejeune, Director of the Petit Journal. It was initially considered as a training race, but would later become one of the top stage races of the calendar. Amongst the big names who took victory in those first decades of the race were René Vietto, Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil. It was...
Sean Kelly’s domination of Paris Nice
It's well known that Sean Kelly holds the record for most overall wins in Paris Nice. However, in addition to winning the race overall from 1982 through to 1988, Kelly also won numerous other classifications in the race. The below stats which show the various other classifications that he won in those years provide an indication of how he...
Horgan rides again – Multiple Irish National Champion comes out of retirement
Photo Credit (Karen M. Edwards) by Caroline Martinez Former professional cyclist and multiple Irish National Champion Siobhan Horgan has confirmed that she has come out of retirement and will resume racing with the Munster based Aquablue team in 2015. The 36 year old announced her retirement less than three years ago after finishing second to Mel Spath at the National Road Championships...
Archive footage of Shay Elliott winning Het Volk
By Graham Healy Omloop Het Nieuwsblad takes place this weekend, and back in 1959, Shay Elliott became the first ever foreign winner of the race, which was then known as Het Volk. The previous year, the Dubliner had shown his ability in classics, when he came close to victory in both Paris Roubaix and Paris Brussels. However, he didn't manage to...
Could we see a record five Irish cyclists at the Tour de France?
This year, five Irish cyclists are in the running to appear at the Tour de France, and if it were to happen, it would be a record number to line up in a particular edition of La Grande Boucle. Three Irish cyclists are on World Tour teams, namely Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche with Team Sky, and Dan Martin with...