Sean Kelly Greatest Time Trial Ever ?

[The Bald Eagle]

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[Benotti69]

It also puts into perspective the need for TT bikes.

I personally would leave them to the triathletes and not have them in a GT. Bikes have been proven not have made a huge advantage in performance for cyclists or those without them. Why would they? Compare the size of the rider as to something which is already a very thin machine and a bit of flat tube here and .000% or a second there...it's all in the head and marketing departments.

i remember that ride by Kelly. THe water dripping of the end of his nose and him giving it everything. He caught the 2 or 3 riders in front of him.

 

[forty four]

Date: Friday September 27 th 1985.
Event: The Nissan International Classic.
Stage: 13 Mile ( 20.921 km ) Individual Time Trial From Carrick On Suir To Clonmel.

See it here at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGNHFFgcPQs

Stage Result : Top Five.

1 st Sean Kelly 24.09
2 nd Stephen Roche @49 Seconds
3 rd A.Van Der Poel @1.01
4 th Tony Doyle ( Twice Individual World Pursuit Champion 1980 & 86 ) @1.24
5 th L.Peeters @1.31

Sean Kelly's Average Speed for this Time Trial Was 52.173 Kph ( 32.418 Mph ).

Putting that average speed into perspective, the fastest average speed in a Time
Trial of more than 20 Km ( 12.427 Miles ) at the time was set by Francesco Moser
in a Time Trial in the Final Stage of the 1984 Giro d'Italia, with an average speed
of 50.977 Kph ( 31.675 Mph ). It wasn't until 1989 that Kelly's average speed was
surpassed. Gerg Lemond's famous dual with Laurent Fignon. That famous 24.5 km
Time Trial in the 1989 Tour De France between Versailles and Paris, which won the
Tour for Lemond. His average winning speed was 54.545 Kph ( 33.892 Mph ). A fair
few miles of that Time Trial was down hill. And of course he was riding a specific
Time Trial Bike with aerobars. Still that was a remarkable performance. Stephen
Roche who finished second behind Kelly at 49 seconds was riding on the latest
technology available at the time. A low profile Time Trial Bike with two Disc
Wheels. Sean Kelly was riding a regular Road Bike with a rear disc wheel. He was
wearing a skin suit. His feet were strapped into pedals with straps and clips. No
modern day Clipless pedals and cleats. No special aerodynamic Helmet. No modern
day, wind tunnel tested, aerodynamic, computer aided design carbon fiber Time
Trial Bike's with low profile aeorbars, and wheelsets designed to cut through the
wind with minimal drag. Just sheer power, talent, skill and determination. Kelly's
Time of 24.09 for the 13 miles between Carrick On Suir and Clonmel is still a record
till this day. It is surely one of the greatest performances in Cycling History. Echo's
of Yester Year. Long live King Kelly.

well he is and was the **** when it came to general all round mental and physical hardness the ultimate roller in my eyes one of the best. as sean yates would say "the hardest man there ever was"

 

[jharrb]

Kelly

I don't know how you can compare the time trials over the years because of the changes in bike technology. Older bikes have been proven to be slower when riders made the exact same efforts using HR monitors over a set distance. It was definitely one of the top 5 rides of all time in my own opinion. The only thing against it was that apart from Roche and Doyle, he did not go head to head with any major names that day who needed to win. However I do recall that Kelly was robbed in the 84 Tour when he should have beaten Fignon in the Time Trial. The French deemed Fignon the winner by a few hundreds of a second. Even Kelly wondered about that one.

 

[ultimobici]

I don't know how you can compare the time trials over the years because of the changes in bike technology. Older bikes have been proven to be slower when riders made the exact same efforts using HR monitors over a set distance. It was definitely one of the top 5 rides of all time in my own opinion. The only thing against it was that apart from Roche and Doyle, he did not go head to head with any major names that day who needed to win. However I do recall that Kelly was robbed in the 84 Tour when he should have beaten Fignon in the Time Trial. The French deemed Fignon the winner by a few hundreds of a second. Even Kelly wondered about that one.

Eyebrows were raised due to the fact that timing was by stopwatch that day, not electronic.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Eyebrows were raised due to the fact that timing was by stopwatch that day, not electronic.

Yes that is correct. It was the second last stage of the 1984 Tour. A 51 kilometer time trial from Ville Morgon to Villefranche. Laurent Fignon's winning time was 1 hr 7 mins 19.215 secs. Sean Kelly's time was 1hr 7 mins 19.263 secs. After the finish of the stage several people informed Kelly that the electronic timing wasn't working, and that they were hand timed. In Kelly's own word's " Because of this I could not believe they would divide us when the difference was hundredths of seconds . It would of been one of My great time trial performances if I had won" .

 

[Avoriaz]

Yes that is correct. It was the second last stage of the 1984 Tour. A 51 kilometer time trial from Ville Morgon to Villefranche. Laurent Fignon's winning time was 1 hr 7 mins 19.215 secs. Sean Kelly's time was 1hr 7 mins 19.263 secs. After the finish of the stage several people informed Kelly that the electronic timing wasn't working, and that they were hand timed. In Kelly's own word's " Because of this I could not believe they would divide us when the difference was hundredths of seconds . It would of been one of My great time trial performances if I had won" .

I seem to remember one of the judges, in response to Kelly's complaint, that he won bunch sprints by fractions of a second, so why should this be any different. I can't remember if this second place as opposed to first, if reversed, would have seen him take the green jersey from Frank Hoste as I think the gap was only 4pts at the end or something (though had he not been penalised for an infringement with Gilbert Glaus earlier in the race, it wouldn't have mattered)

Going back to the Carrick-Clonmel TT, great ride though it was, it has to be said that the route was as near to as in his back yard as is possible.

He did go on to win the GP des Nations in 1986.

 

[Benotti69]

I don't know how you can compare the time trials over the years because of the changes in bike technology. Older bikes have been proven to be slower when riders made the exact same efforts using HR monitors over a set distance. It was definitely one of the top 5 rides of all time in my own opinion. The only thing against it was that apart from Roche and Doyle, he did not go head to head with any major names that day who needed to win. However I do recall that Kelly was robbed in the 84 Tour when he should have beaten Fignon in the Time Trial. The French deemed Fignon the winner by a few hundreds of a second. Even Kelly wondered about that one.

http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2010/08/modern-bicycles-and-cycling-speeds-any.html

 

[Kerbdog]

Going back to the Carrick-Clonmel TT, great ride though it was, it has to be said that the route was as near to as in his back yard as is possible.

He did go on to win the GP des Nations in 1986.

While it was also in his backyard so to speak I also couldnt think of a more inspiring thought than finishing the Time trial in your own Town in front of your own people. Its not like Ireland has had a load of cyclists over the years & we were & still are rabid over Kelly. But yeah he would have known the roads so mix it up & he sure as hell was gonna die on the bike that day if he had too.
Great ride.

 

[jharrb]

I argree. The man rode like he was on fire and what stands out is that he wanted to put on a display for all his people and it is full of pride and determination. This is what bike racing should be all about.