Stephen Roche won the Giro, Tour and World Championship with Kelly in a superlative way
In the path that we described the other day for Pogacar in the year we began, we see an almost perfect analogy to the season that Stephen Roche signed in 1987.
The magical year, the most striking of those that I remember, because in one strip the Irishman devoured the Giro, to the chagrin of the hosts, the Tour and the World Championship.
Three successes that were not a double like that of Indurain, the first, or that of Marco Pantani.
Roche was a triplet, something crazy these days and one that Pogacar is pursuing.
In the peloton there have been few, very few, Irish cyclists.
In history there were not many, however those who made the cut were very good and at that stage we remember Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche, along with Dan Martin in recent times.
Let’s see what Ben Healy does.
Time brought Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly together during the 1980s.
The achievements of both are excellent, but the achievements of the first in 1987 represented a record by countries that I believe was rarely seen in the history of cycling.
Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly were first and second on the time scalecalled Superprestige Pernod.
In the ranking sponsored by the spirit drink, Roche was first with 800 points to Kelly’s 560 and Claude Criquielion’s 490.
Roche did what was known as the triple, winning the Giro-Tour-World Cup in the same yearstill being the only cyclist who completed it even though Miguel Indurain touched him but did not succeed, because of Lance Armstrong, in 1993.
Roche’s episodes that year were intense, but none like the first, the Giro d’Italia.
There he ran with the Carrera colors and faced his own teammates, among them the current winner Roberto Visentini, the rivals and the Italian people in its extension who did not understand that his number one had to adhere to the script that benefited Roche. However, that’s how it had to be.
The Irishman, who won a downhill time trial from Poggio to San Remo, had to deal with hilarious situations to win his Giro.
He would then win the Tour that Pedro Delgado caressed until the final time trial in one of the most open editions of time, with the two best specialists out of the race, Greg Lemond convalescing from a hunting accident and Bernard Hinault already retired. A month or so later, however, the most unexpected success came.
Guarantor of terrible fair play, Sean Kelly did not hesitate to help Roche even though he had initially recognized King Kelly’s better speed..
But in the final cut of thirteen cyclists, where both were, Roche outwitted the rivals’ obsession with Kelly and took the title ahead of the outgoing champion Moreno Argentin.
Before winning everything, Roche lost important things, such as Paris-Nice and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
If in the second he lost against Moreno Argentin, in the first Sean Kelly achieved his sixth consecutive success that he added to the International Criterium.
Enrolled in the Kas, Kelly made interesting progress in the grand toursa fact that, however, was not enough for him to win the Vuelta a España of the season, a race that he had in his hand until Lucho Herrera took off in the Lakes of Covadonga.
Years later the Roche name continued in the platoon with Nicolas, who was not like his father but if there was one thing he exuded it was affection for his job.
And these Irish people, to leave home, so far north, so far away, had to be very good if they wanted to make a living at this.
2024-02-04 05:35:06
#cyclists #identify #total #rider #Sean #Kelly
