Who was the first Irishman to win the Tour de France?
"""Grand Tour"" in Italy, the Giro d'Italia, had propelled Fignon back into the spotlight. A strong Super U team surrounding him was also named in his favour. Bjarne Riis, aged 25, rode his first Tour de France, supporting his teammate Fignon. Riis would go on to win the 1996 Tour de France, the year after the last of Induráin's wins. Stephen Roche (Fagor–MBK) had won the Tour in 1987 ahead of Delgado. However, a knee injury had forced him to miss the race in 1988. A strong spring season with victory at the Tour of the Basque Country, second place"
"Elliott, was shown in Ireland (first on Setanta Ireland) and the UK. Many articles, and a section of a book, have also been written about Elliott. Irish National Road Race Championships (CN) Irish National Road Race Championships (CN) Seamus Elliott Seamus 'Shay' Elliott (4 June 1934 – 4 May 1971) was an Irish road bicycle racer, Ireland's first major international rider, with a record comparable only to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. He was the first Irish person to ride the Tour de France, first to win a stage, and first to wear the yellow jersey, and first English speaker"
"Seamus Elliott Seamus 'Shay' Elliott (4 June 1934 – 4 May 1971) was an Irish road bicycle racer, Ireland's first major international rider, with a record comparable only to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. He was the first Irish person to ride the Tour de France, first to win a stage, and first to wear the yellow jersey, and first English speaker to win stages in all the Grand Tours. After a strong amateur period, Elliott was the first Irish cyclist to make a mark as a professional rider in continental Europe. A late-starting but naturally talented rider, he spent"
"Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56 year period. Irish rider Sean Kelly has the most wins recorded, four. The first Tour of Ireland race debuted in 1953 and ran until 1957. It was revived in 1965 and ran until 1985. In 1985 the 5 day Nissan International Classic took over as the Tour of Ireland. This lasted for 8 years until 1992. The race returned 15 years later, in 2007,"
"2007 Tour of Ireland The 2007 Tour of Ireland took place between 22 August to 26 August. It was the first Tour of Ireland race to take place in fifteen years, since 1992. The overall classification was won by Belgian Stijn Vandenbergh who finished 20 seconds ahead of Swedish Marcus Ljungqvist. The weather for the 2007 Tour Of Ireland was warm and sunny. Belgian, Stijn Vandenbergh won the overall classification. He won by 20 seconds. Stijn won the first leg (174 km) of the tour, on the 22nd of August. He then went on to win the 2007 Tour Of"
"an Irish cyclist lead the Tour de France. The time trial in stage 6b was won by Anquetil, with Poulidor in second place. Gilbert Desmet became the new leader. The situation did not change much in the next stages until the stages in the Pyrenees, starting with the tenth stage. Bahamontes lead the first group, but Anquetil was able to stay in that first group, which was a surprise. Anquetil stayed in that first group until the finish, where he outsprinted the rest to win his first mountain stage. In the other two stages in the Pyrenees, Anquetil was able"
"of Ireland. With sponsorship from An Tostal, Aspro and Hercules cycles, the event was known as the Tostal Tour and was a big success throughout most of the country, although it was said to have ""had a hard time in the NCA heartlands of Kerry"" There is limited information about the race available on the internet and no book has been written about the event. The inaugural edition was a 4-day race won by Brian Haskell from John Perks and A Walker. Seamus Elliot who later won a stage and wore the yellow jersey in the 1963 Tour de France"
"trial to overturn a half-minute gap and win the Tour by 40 seconds, which was at the time the second-narrowest margin (in 1968 Jan Janssen had beaten Herman Van Springel by 38 seconds; two years after Roche's victory, Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds). Roche became only the fifth cyclist in history to win the Tour and the Giro in the same year. He was also the only Irishman to win the Tour de France. Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey joined Roche on the podium on the Champs-Élysées. Later that year, with victory at the World road race championship"
"The trophy presented each year was won by Elliott himself as a prize for best amateur in France in 1955. Winners of the race include the best of Irish cycling including two-time champion Sean Kelly (who was the only rider to have won the race while still a junior), former professional Peter Crinnion, two time Tour of Ireland winner Pat McQuaid, Peter Doyle (the first rider to win the Tour of Ireland and the Ras Tailteann) and Phil Cassidy (a two-time winner of the Ras Tailteann). In 2002 the race became an international race. The 2015 edition of the race"
"Mark Scanlon (cyclist) Mark Scanlon (born 10 October 1980 in Cranmore, Sligo) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who was the first Irishman to ride in the Tour de France since 1993, and took part in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Scanlon came to prominence when he won the junior race at the 1998 world road race championship, on his 18th birthday. After winning the world championships, Scanlon signed for the Rabobank cycling team's development squad. He failed to break through because of injuries and he left in 2000. He joined CC Etupes in France and rode lesser"
"Lucien Van Impe Lucien Van Impe (; born 20 October 1946) is a Belgian cyclist, who competed professionally between 1969 and 1987. He excelled mainly as a climber in multiple-day races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner of the 1976 Tour de France, and six times winner of the mountains classification in the Tour de France. Van Impe credits the start of his career to Spaniard Federico Bahamontes, a climber nicknamed ""the eagle of Toledo"" and a former Tour de France winner. In 1968 van Impe was King of the Mountains in the Tour de l'Avenir."
"at the Belgian border carrying in his car performance-enhancing drugs. The team nonetheless started the race, placing three riders in the top ten.<br> The prologue was won by favorite Chris Boardman, 4 seconds in front of Abraham Olano. Previous year's winner Jan Ullrich came in sixth, just 5 seconds behind Boardman. 12 July 1998 — Dublin to Dublin, The windy and rainy first stage included the Cat. 3 climb of Wicklow Gap after 111 km. Tom Steels took his first ever stage win. 13 July 1998 — Enniscorthy to Cork, For stage 2, the Tour stayed in Ireland. Chris Boardman"
"great Shay Elliott who won the Irish National Cycling Championships in 1952 and 1954. He was the first Irish person to embark on a professional career, in 1956, and won stages in the three big tours of France, Italy and Spain. In 1962 he finished 2nd in the World Championship Road Race in Salo and in 1963 he was the first Irish man to wear the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France. To great excitement at the time he heroically held on to the Jersey for three days. In recognition of his great achievements he was awarded honorary life"
"a plaque in the Saint-Cloud park reading: 'On 31 May 1868, James Moore became the winner of the first race for vélocipèdes in France'. Among those present were Godfrey Haggarel, British consul-general in Paris; Géo Lefèvre, vice-chairman of the Association of Sports Journalists and the man who thought up the Tour de France, officials from the town hall of St-Cloud and the Touring Club de France, and the racers Henry Debray, Lucien Louvet and Rodolf Moller, and Victor Breyer, the deputy organiser of the Tour de France. The plaque has since disappeared. James Moore believed all his life that he"
"Paddy Flanagan Paddy Flanagan (1941 – 21 November 2000) was one of the top Irish cyclists of the 1960s and 1970s. He came to prominence in the Rás Tailtean. He rode his first in the Rás Tailtean in 1958 and came 11th. The following year he came second. He won in 1960 and again in 1964, the first to win twice. He had two stage wins and three top five finishes in the years to 1969 Flanagan and his brother Ned joined the Irish Cycling Federation in 1969. He finished the Tour of Ireland where he finished in fourth place."
"the 2010 race would not take place due to a financial shortfall, but that they hope it will return in 2011. It was due to take place from 18 August to 22 August 2010. Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56 year period. Irish rider Sean Kelly has the most wins recorded, four. The first Tour of Ireland race debuted in 1953 and ran until 1957. It was revived in 1965"
"for him, with a win in the Tour De Luxembourg. More about Marcus and his cycling career can be found on this link. Tour of Ireland 2009 Tour of Ireland Cycling Ireland Irish National Cycling Championships Irish records in track cycling 2007 Tour of Ireland The 2007 Tour of Ireland took place between 22 August to 26 August. It was the first Tour of Ireland race to take place in fifteen years, since 1992. The overall classification was won by Belgian Stijn Vandenbergh who finished 20 seconds ahead of Swedish Marcus Ljungqvist. The weather for the 2007 Tour Of Ireland"
"Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia stage races, plus the World road race championship, the first was Eddy Merckx. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly. Although one of the finest cyclists of his generation and admired for his pedalling style, he struggled with knee injuries and never contended in the Grand Tours post-1987."
"the Carrickmines Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, near Dublin. There are many regional cycling clubs throughout the country and competitions are organised regularly, the largest non-professional event being the ""Rás"" (Irish for race). The main governing body is Cycling Ireland which is responsible for cycling throughout the island. Ireland's most famous cyclists are Stephen Roche, who won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in 1987; and Sean Kelly, who won the Vuelta a España in 1988, the sprinter's green jersey in the Tour de France four times, the Paris-Nice seven times in succession as well as four of"
"World War. After retiring, he recalled that he had been asked by his manager, Alphonse Baugé, to wear a yellow jersey as leader of the Tour, although that distinction is more commonly attributed to Eugène Christophe. Philippe Thys Philippe Thys (; ; 8 October 1889 – 16 January 1971) was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France. In 1910, Thys won Belgium's first national cyclo-cross championship. The following year he won the Circuit Français Peugeot, followed by stage races from Paris to Toulouse and Paris to Turin. He turned professional to ride the Tour de"
"of the Netherlands secured his win in the individual time trial on the last day. The Tour has been won four times by a racer who led the general classification on the first stage and held the lead all the way to Paris. Maurice Garin did it during the Tour's very first edition, 1903; he repeated the feat the next year, but the results were nullified as a response to widespread cheating. Ottavio Bottechia completed a GC start-to-finish sweep in 1924. In 1928, Nicolas Frantz also led the GC for the entire race, and the final podium was made up"
". He raced the Giro d'Italia, achieving a top ten finish in one stage and featuring prominently in others, with his team winning 4 stages in total. On 17 September 2009 he achieved his first grand tour stage victory, in stage 18 of the Vuelta a España into Avila, after a 2-man battle with the Czech Roman Kreuziger of . By finishing 10 minutes clear of the peloton he climbed to 9th in the general classification. He became the first Irishman to win a stage on a Grand Tour since Stephen Roche's last-stage success at the Tour de France in"
"for a two-day period after the stage 13 individual time trial. The fifteenth stage of the 1987 Giro has been recognized as an iconic event in the history of the race because Roche rode ahead of teammate Visentini, despite orders from the team management, and took the race lead. Roche successfully defended the overall lead from attacks by Visentini and other general classification contenders until the event's finish in Saint-Vincent. Stephen Roche became the first Irishman to win the Giro d'Italia. In addition to the general classification, Roche also won the combination classification. In the other race classifications, Johan van"
"Barry Hoban Barry Hoban (born 5 February 1940) is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 and 1975. He holds the record (now shared with David Millar) for the most Tours completed by a British rider – having finished 11 of the 12 he started between 1965 and 1978. He was also the first Briton to win two consecutive stages of the Tour (a feat matched by Mark Cavendish in"
"eventual winner Philippe Thys. He participated in six tours between 1909 and 1924 but his victory Tour was the only one that he completed. Other major wins include the 1913 Milan–San Remo, a one-day classic, and four stages and the overall for the 1912 Tour of Belgium. Odile Defraye Odile Defraye (; ; 14 July 1888 - 21 August 1965) was a Belgian road racing cyclist who won three stages and the overall title of the 1912 Tour de France, which was the last tour decided by a points system instead of overall best time. He was the first Belgian"
"Vin Denson Vincent Denson (born 24 November 1935) is a former professional racing cyclist who rode the Tour de France, won a stage of the Giro d'Italia and won the Tour of Luxembourg in the 1960s. He was a team-mate of Rik Van Looy and of Jacques Anquetil and, in the Tour de France, of Tom Simpson. He was the first British rider to win a stage of the Giro, before finishing 40th overall. Denson was born in Chester, England. He had his first bike at 12, a black Hercules Falcon borrowed from his brother and with wooden blocks fitted"
"One rider has been King of the Mountains, won the combination classification, combativity award, the points competition, and the Tour in the same year—Eddy Merckx in 1969, which was also the first year he participated. Twice the Tour was won by a racer who never wore the yellow jersey until the race was over. In 1947, Jean Robic overturned a three-minute deficit on the final stage into Paris. In 1968, Jan Janssen of the Netherlands secured his win in the individual time trial on the last day. The Tour has been won three times by racers who led the general"
"was won by former Track World Champion Martyn Irvine. Shay Elliott Memorial Race The Shay Elliott Memorial race is a one-day race held in Spring in Ireland. It is run in honour of former Irish professional cyclist Seamus Shay Elliott. The race was previously known as the ""Route de Chill Mhantain"". It became the Shay Elliott Trophy in the late sixties, then the Shay Elliott Memorial after his death in 1971. The race is the most prestigious Irish one-day event after the national championships. In 1958, the first Route de Chill Mhantáin was held, organised by Bray Wheelers, a cycling"
"Pat O'Callaghan Dr. Patrick ""Pat"" O'Callaghan (28 January 1906 – 1 December 1991) was an Irish athlete and Olympic gold medallist. He was the first athlete from an independent Ireland to win an Olympic medal in sport and is regarded as one of Ireland's greatest-ever athletes. Pat O'Callaghan was born in the townland of Knockaneroe, near Kanturk, County Cork, on 28 January 1906, the second of three sons born to Paddy O'Callaghan, a farmer, and Jane Healy. He began his education at the age of two at Derrygalun national school. O'Callaghan progressed to secondary school in Kanturk and at the"
"year in Ireland in his honour. The race was previously (since 1959) known as the ""Route de Chill Mhantain"" (Circuit of Wicklow). It became the Shay Elliott Trophy in the late sixties, then the Shay Elliott Memorial after his death in 1971. A monument to Elliott erected by friends stands at the top of the climb from Drumgoff Bridge, Glenmalure heading towards Laragh, County Wicklow, where the race's KOH mountain prime is situated. Delegates from the Tour de France visited Elliott's grave when the Tour came to Ireland in 1998. In 2009 a documentary film, ""Cycle of Betrayal"", about Shay"
"The Tour de France director, Henri Desgrange, decided that cyclists should receive a bonus for reaching the tops first. Vicente Trueba Vicente Trueba Pérez (October 16, 1905 in Sierrapando, Torrelavega, Cantabria – November 10, 1986) was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He is most famous for being the first winner of King of the Mountains for winning the overall classification in the Mountains classification of Tour de France. He also finished sixth overall of Tour de France. In 1933, the King of the Mountains classification was first calculated. The winner was Vicente Trueba, who reached the tops of most"
"1983 Tour de France The 1983 Tour de France was the 70th edition of the Tour de France, run from 1 to 24 July, with 22 stages and a prologue covering a total distance of The race was won by French rider Laurent Fignon. Sean Kelly of Ireland won the points classification, and Lucien Van Impe of Belgium won the mountains classification. The Tour organisation wanted to globalize cycling by having cyclist from the Eastern Bloc in the Tour. Because they only rode as amateurs, the 1983 Tour was also opened for amateur teams. In the end, only the Colombian"
"Events Group and Shadetree Sports and the route of the race took in many of the same areas that the Nissan Classic covered. Just like the 1987 edition of the Nissan Classic, the Tour of Ireland started from Kilkenny Castle. The first stage used St. Patricks Hill in Cork city in its finale. The five-day stage race concluded on 26 August and was won by Stijn Vandenbergh of Belgium. Lance Armstrong & Mark Cavendish took part in the 2009 edition, which was shortened to a 3-day event due to the economic downturn. The organisers confirmed on 1 June 2010 that"