Slieve Gullion Wheelers

THE KING OF CYCLING COMES TO CROSS
Sean Kelly, Ireland’s greatest cyclist, takes to the roads of South Armagh along with 80 cyclists from Slieve Gullion Wheelers and other cycling clubs in the Border regions.

Kelly grew up in the townland of Curraghduff, County Waterford onthe Tipperary border near Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland.[1] From the start of his professional career in 1977 when he was discovered by the French directeur sportif Jean de Gribaldy, until his retirement in 1994, Kelly won nine ‘Monument’ Classics, and 193 professional races in total, a tally only bettered by Eddy Merckx. Kelly also won the Paris-Nice stage race seven years in a row, and won the inaugural UCI Road World Cup in 1989.

Kelly was the first rider to be ranked world No.1, a position he held for over six years, which is the competition record. Kelly was known to be one of the hard men of professional cycling, achieving 33 victories in one season (1984).
Kelly’s career is remarkable in that it spanned the eras of several cycling legends of the Tour de France. In his first year as a professional he rode against aging yet still challenging Eddy Merckx. His first Tour was also the first Tour for Bernard Hinault and the two battled in the sprint of Stage 15. Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon emerged in the early eighties and battled with Kelly in classics as well as in the Tour, and Kelly witnessed the rise of Miguel Indurain and the early career of Lance Armstrong. In addition, Kelly’s career coincided with that of his fellow Irishman and occasional rival Stephen Roche as well as the many classics specialists of the eighties and early nineties which included Francesco Moser, Claude Criquielion, Moreno Argentin and Eric Vanderaerden. Evidence of Kelly’s dominance can be seen from his three victories in the season-long Super Prestige Pernod International competition (the predecessor to the World Cup). Kelly also competed throughout the entire season, from the season-opener Paris-Nice in early March to season-finale Giro di Lombardia in October, starting and finishing the season by winning both of these events in 1983 and 1985.
Post-cycling career
Kelly is still involved in cycling – he is now a commentator for Eurosport on major cycling events and has established and is heavily involved in the Sean Kelly Cycling Academy in Belgium. He recently launched the Sean Kelly Cycling Team, comprised of young Irish and Belgian riders.
He participates in long distance charity cycling tours with the “Blazing Saddles”, a cycling charity dedicated to raising money for the blind and partially sighted. Such tours have included a journey across America by bike in 2001.
He also participates in charity cycling endurance events in Scotland (notably with the Braveheart Cycling Fund), England, France and his native Ireland and is a regular sight at Waterford hurling matches.
The inaugural Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford was held on the 19th August 2007. Kelly was one of the 900 participants.