Tour of Ireland

Cycling race

Tour of IrelandRace details

Date| September and October 1985–1992
August 2007, 2008
Region| Ireland
Local name(s)| Nissan Classic (1985–1992)
Tour of Ireland 2007–09
Nickname(s)| Nissan Classic (1985–1992)
Discipline| Road race
Competition| UCI Europe Tour
Type| Stage race (2.1)
Organiser| The Events Group / Shadetree Sports
History
First edition| 1953 (1953)
Editions| 35 (as of 2009)
Most wins|  Sean Kelly (IRL) (4 wins)
Most recent|  Russell Downing (GBR)

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

[edit]

### Origins, 1950s

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Edition  | Year  | Winner  | Nationality  | Team  | KOM  | Points/Sprints

|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | 1953 | Brian Haskell |  United Kingdom | London NCU |  |
2 | 1954 | Bernard Pusey |  United Kingdom | England A |  |
3 | 1955 | Brian Haskell |  United Kingdom | Yorkshire |  |
4 | 1956 | Jimmy Rae |  United Kingdom | Scotland |  |
5 | 1965 | Brian Jolly |  United Kingdom | Kirkby CC, Liverpool |  |
6 | 1966 | Roy Hempsall |  United Kingdom |  |  | Sheffield
7 | 1967 | Nigel Dean |  United Kingdom |  |  |
8 | 1968 | Peter Doyle |  Ireland | Bray Wheelers |  |
9 | 1969 | Morris Foster |  United Kingdom |  |  |
10 | 1970 | Paul Elliot |  Ireland | Bray Wheelers |  |
11 | 1971 |  |  |  |
12 | 1972 | Liam Horner |  Ireland | County Dublin Road Club |  |
13 | 1973 | Doug Dailey |  United Kingdom |  |  |
14 | 1974 | Tony Lally |  Ireland |  |  |
15 | 1975 | Pat McQuaid |  Ireland | Irish National Team |  |
16 | 1976 | Pat McQuaid (2) |  Ireland |  |  |
17 | 1977 | Ángel Arroyo |  Spain |  |  |
18 | 1978 | John Shortt |  Ireland |  |  |
19 | 1979 | Ron Hayman |  Canada | Archer Road Club |  |
20 | 1980 | Arthur Cunningham |  Northern Ireland | Northern CC |  |
21 | 1981 | David Grindley |  England | LIVERPOOL CENTURY |  |
22 | 1982 | Billy Kerr | Northern Ireland |  |  |
23 | 1983 | Not held |  |  |  |
24 | 1984 | Bob Downs |  United Kingdom |  |  |
25 | 1985 | Sean Kelly |  Ireland | Skil Sem Kas Miko |  |
26 | 1986 | Sean Kelly (2) |  Ireland | Guinness-Kas Mavic | Teun van Vliet  | Malcolm Elliot
27 | 1987 | Sean Kelly (3) |  Ireland | Castrol Burnmah-Kas |  |
28 | 1988 | Rolf Gölz |  Germany | Superconfex Yoko Opel | Tom A Ward
29 | 1989 | Eric Vanderaerden |  Belgium | Panasonic–Isostar | Tom A Ward
30 | 1990 | Erik Breukink |  Netherlands | PDM-Ultima Concorde |  |
31 | 1991 | Sean Kelly (4) |  Ireland | PDM-Cidona |  |
32 | 1992 | Phil Anderson |  Australia | Motorola | Stephen Roche |
33 | 2007 | Stijn Vandenbergh |  Belgium | Unibet.com | Roger Beuchat  | Matti Breschel
34 | 2008 | Marco Pinotti |  Italy | Team Columbia | Matt Wilson | Russell Downing
35 | 2009 | Russell Downing |  United Kingdom | Candi TV-Marshall's Pasta | Matt Wilson | Russell Downing

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Canning, Andrew (1 June 2010). "2010 Tour of Ireland cancelled". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
2. ^ "The Beginnings Of The Rás". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
3. ^ "Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Tough guys". Velonews. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
4. ^ "Tour of Éire". hubmind.net. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
5. ^ "Tour of Ireland glory days". Bray Wheelers. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
6. ^ "PCA to ride Tour of Ireland". British cycling.org.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
7. ^ "Loserdom's guide to the 1987 Nissan Classic". Loser Dom. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
8. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1985 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
9. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1986 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
10. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1987 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
11. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1991 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
12. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1988 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
13. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1989 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
14. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1990 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
15. ^ "Ronde van Ierland 1992 stage results and overall classification". Cyclebase. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
16. ^ "Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly are names etched into the psyche of cycling aficionados. Michael Hearn and Brendan Mooney look back over their stunning careers". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
17. ^ "Top level Pro racing returns to Ireland". Cycling News. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
18. ^ "Marcato triumphs in Dublin finale". Tour of Ireland. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
19. ^ "ARMSTRONG AND CAVENDISH CONFIRMED FOR THREE DAY TOUR OF IRELAND". Cycling Ireland.[permanent dead link]
20. ^ Cromwell, Gerard (1 June 2010). "Roche stunned as plug pulled on Tour of Ireland". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
21. ^ "Tour cancelled due to lack of funds". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website of the Tour of Ireland
* Overview of the Nissan Classic and articles on each edition 1985–1992
* Tour of Ireland at cyclingarchives.com

*[IRL]: Ireland
*[GBR]: Great Britain