Tour of Ireland

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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 Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, 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, as the Tour of Ireland and was part of the UCI Europe Tour. The organisers confirmed on 1 June 2010 that the 2010 race would not take place due to a financial shortfall,[1] and as of 2019, there is no further news of a revival.

History

Origins, 1950s

The original Tour of Ireland was a cycling stage race run in Ireland between 1953 and 1984, and organised by the internationally recognised governing body, Cumann Rothaíochta na hÉireann (CRE), later reformed as the Federation of Irish Cyclists. In 1953 the Irish Government initiated An Tóstal, a cultural festival, and asked all Irish sporting bodies to participate. As part of this the CRE ran a four-day Tour 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"[2] 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 finished tenth overall. Briton Brian Robinson who also won a stage in the Tour de France finished fifth in this first edition.[3] According to Alf Buttler, an amateur cyclist during and after the second world war the leader's jersey was purple[4] and the race continued but as a seven-day race the following year, 1954, beginning on Thursday 29 April. The 1954 race was covered by J B Wadley and photographer Bill Lovelace for The Bicycle magazine and a full report appeared in the 5 May issue. Bernard Pusey (England A team) won from Seamus Elliott (Ireland A team) and Tony Hoar (England B team). According to Bray Wheelers, an Irish cycling club from Bray, Wicklow, the event continued until 1957.

First revival, 1960s

The tour was revived in 1965.[5] During the seventies the race was known as the Raleigh Dunlop Tour of Ireland.[6] The event continued to 1984. Winners during this period include Bray Wheelers Peter Doyle (1968) and Paul Elliott (1970), Doug Dailey (1971, 1973), Liam Horner (1972), a double Olympian, Tony Lally (1974), a 1980 Olympian and the youngest ever winner at age 20, Pat McQuaid (1975, 1976; later UCI President), Ángel Arroyo (1977), runner up in 1983 Tour de France, John Shortt (1978) and Ron Hayman (1979) who was followed home by Phil Anderson, Stephen Roche and Robert Miller in 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

Nissan International Classic, 1985–1992

The Nissan International Classic was then organised from 1985 until 1992 which it appears took over from the Tour of Ireland. The Nissan Classic was referred to as the Tour of Ireland by the famous Irish cyclist Stephen Roche during the 1987 edition.[7]

The race was organised by the Events Group and was sponsored by Nissan; Alan Rushton was the race controller and future President of the UCI, Pat McQuaid, was the race director. It was a hugely successful event that captured the spirit and imagination of the race going public who stood at the side of the road in vast numbers. The event occurred during the golden age of Irish cycling when Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche were at the height of their success in European cycling. Kelly dominated the Irish event by winning four [8][9][10][11] of the eight races.[12][13][14][15] Roche won two stages in the first edition and finished second in the 1987 edition while wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion but never won the event.[16] The event used the most famous 'wall' in Ireland – the steep ascent of St. Patricks Hill in Cork city as the finale of a stage in almost every edition of the event. Other areas that the event regularly visited included Kelly's hometown of Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary, O'Connell Street in Limerick and Eyre Square in Galway. The race used to finish on O'Connell Street in Dublin after doing many laps of a circuit in the city centre.

Third revival, 2007–2009

After a break of fifteen years, it was announced that the event was returning to Ireland in early 2007 and sponsored by Fáilte Ireland and called the Tour of Ireland. This event was organised by the 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.[17] The five-day stage race concluded on 26 August and was won by Stijn Vandenbergh of Belgium.[18] Lance Armstrong & Mark Cavendish took part in the 2009 edition, which was shortened to a 3-day event due to the economic downturn. [19] The organisers confirmed on 1 June 2010 that the 2010 race would not take place due to a financial shortfall, but that they hoped it will return in 2011.[20] It was due to take place from 18 August to 22 August 2010.[21]

Past winners

Edition Year Winner Nationality Team KOM Points/Sprints
1 1953 Brian Haskell Template:Flagu London NCU
2 1954 Bernard Pusey Template:Flagu England A
3 1955 Brian Haskell Template:Flagu Yorkshire
4 1956 Jimmy Rae Template:Flagu Scotland
5 1965 Brian Jolly Template:Flagu Kirkby CC, Liverpool
6 1966 Roy Hempsall Script error: No such module "flag". Sheffield
7 1967 Nigel Dean Template:Flagu
8 1968 Peter Doyle Script error: No such module "flag". Bray Wheelers
9 1969 Morris Foster Template:Flagu
10 1970 Paul Elliot Script error: No such module "flag". Bray Wheelers
11 1971
12 1972 Liam Horner Script error: No such module "flag". County Dublin Road Club
13 1973 Doug Dailey Template:Flagu
14 1974 Tony Lally Script error: No such module "flag".
15 1975 Pat McQuaid Script error: No such module "flag". Irish National Team
16 1976 Pat McQuaid (2) Script error: No such module "flag".
17 1977 Ángel Arroyo Template:Flagu
18 1978 John Shortt Script error: No such module "flag".
19 1979 Ron Hayman Template:Flagu Archer Road Club
20 1980 Arthur Cunningham Script error: No such module "flag". Northern CC
21 1981 David Grindley Template:Flagu LIVERPOOL CENTURY
22 1982 Billy Kerr Northern Ireland
23 1983 Not held
24 1984 Bob Downs Template:Flagu
25 1985 Sean Kelly Script error: No such module "flag". Skil Sem Kas Miko
26 1986 Sean Kelly (2) Script error: No such module "flag". Guinness-Kas Mavic Teun van Vliet Template:Flagicon Malcolm Elliot Template:Flagicon
27 1987 Sean Kelly (3) Script error: No such module "flag". Castrol Burnmah-Kas
28 1988 Rolf Gölz Template:Flagu Superconfex Yoko Opel Tom A Ward Template:Flagicon
29 1989 Eric Vanderaerden Template:Flagu Panasonic–Isostar Tom A Ward Template:Flagicon
30 1990 Erik Breukink Template:Flagu PDM-Ultima Concorde
31 1991 Sean Kelly (4) Script error: No such module "flag". PDM-Cidona
32 1992 Phil Anderson Template:Flagu Motorola Stephen Roche Template:Flagicon
33 2007 Stijn Vandenbergh Template:Flagu Template:Cycling data COS Roger Beuchat Template:Flagicon Matti Breschel Template:Flagicon
34 2008 Marco Pinotti Template:Flagu Template:Cycling data THR Matt Wilson Template:Flagicon Russell Downing Template:Flagicon
35 2009 Russell Downing Template:Flagu Candi TV-Marshall's Pasta Matt Wilson Template:Flagicon Russell Downing Template:Flagicon

References

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External links

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