Kelly’s record in Paris-Nice looks like it will never be equaled

Who can match Sean Kelly in Paris-Nice?

How beautiful Paris-Nice was when the leader was in white, when I saw it with Miguel Indurain, with Laurent Jalabert, with VDB and with King Kelly.

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And singular, I really miss the white jersey of the #ParisNice
Do you remember it? pic.twitter.com/fUG7ZoZr9c

— JoanSeguidor (@JoanSeguidor) March 6, 2024

From those years we keep indelible images that starred the greatest of the moment because in this race not just anyone won, although I see it as more difficult for anyone to equal Sean Kelly in the Paris-Nice honors list.

Jean de Gribaldy always had eyes for his beloved Sean Kelly, that hard-working Irishman with peasant roots, whose talent impressed one of the great directors in the history of cycling, bringing him to him already in 1976, long before starting his great cycle in Paris-Nice.

Signing for Flandria was Kelly’s first step to becoming the great dominator of the entire history of the race to the sunParis-Nice, in a period of dominance that is not only impressive for the race itself, seven wins in a row, but also for the history of cycling in general.

Running on Gribaldy’s team, our beloved Irishman took good note of how the “winner” Freddy Maertens managed his victory in the race that was distinguished by its white jersey.

Among other subtleties, Kelly assisted his Belgian teammate in brilliant management of the bonuses to get the biggest possible prize.

A few years later, Master Maertens saw how the student took his lead and surpassed him in history.

Sean Kelly scored his first victory in Paris-Nice in 1982leader on the way to Saint-Étienne, carved his first trophy in what would be his fiefdom for years, the time trial climb to the Col d´ Èze, a usual epilogue for so many years in the race.

Gilbert Duclos Lassalle and Jean Luc Vandebroucke accompanied the Irish star on the first white crossing.

The next time, 1983, Kelly not only managed as Maertens, but also He was capable of delivering theatrical coups that left his rivals dry. like the climb to Tournon or the Miramas stage, repeating it in Mandelieu, to the despair of Zoetemelk, and renewing the Col d´ Èze crown.

That was Sean Kelly, kid glove, devastating blows in the career with which he blended in for years, opening his repertoire to all types of triumphs, through multiple exhibitions

As in 1984, when he showed that he not only gave lessons for the leadership but also for the pure and simple enjoyment of the public, as in the finish in which he beat Eddy Planckaert in the sprint in Bourbon-Lancy, still far from the moments decisive of the race.

These would arrive, for example, at the Chalet-Reynard, where Eric Caritoux, weeks before winning the Vuelta a España, kept the herd under control of rivals, among whom were Hinault, Millar, Vichot and Rooks,

1985 would be a strange edition for Kellyin a race marked by intense cold, the Irishman would win his fourth Paris-Nice without a stage victory.

The pressure from his compatriot Stephen Roche led him to go practical, despite the fact that on the Col d’Èze, Roche accounted for Kelly for a second.

Already wearing the colors of Kas, Sean Kelly would renew his dominance in the race in a big way, with an edition that had no other leader than himself.

From the prologue in Paris to the epilogue on the heights of Nice, on the Col d´Èze, Kelly left nothing for others: He was accompanied on the podium by two members of that year’s Tour cajon, Urs Zimmermann and Greg Lemond, almost nothing.

1987 and Kelly would add his sixth victory: a race marked by a terrible equality with Roche, on the eve of his great triumphs, which would be broken by a puncture from Stephen in the morning sector of the final day.

Kelly’s last victory would come a year later, in an edition marked by the death months before of the race director, Jacques Anquetil.

On Route, Kelly honors maitre Jacques with a final triumph which he sealed, it could not be otherwise, in the Col d´ Èze.

And this peak, which is also so present today, in the express day around Nice, is without a doubt the place that we should choose to measure the monument that Sean Kelly made to Paris-Nice, because taking the start of climb ten from the top, The Irishman still has the best time ever today, 19’45’the one he scored in the 1986 edition.

After their triumphs, they dwarf the five of Anquetil and the three of Merckx, Zoetemelk and Jalabert.

Image: Paris-Nice

2024-03-09 07:00:20
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