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Shay O'Hanlon Rás Winner 1962, 65, 66, 67.
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| Jim Killean,President Of The N.C.A. Shay O'Hanlon Rás Winner 1962 And Mick Christle Race Organiser |
O’Hanlon rode alone’ is one of the more perceptive observations of Shay O’Hanlon, as offered by one of his contemporaries.
Rás veterans generally like to reminisce about the great Rás riders of their era and, like any sport, the exploits of past masters and the revisiting in the mind’s eye of epic sporting scenes leads to a flow of descriptive and colourful discussion. Enquiry about Shay O’Hanlon, however, provokes a perceptible difference in reaction – a response that hints at an elusive dimension difficult to articulate. His peers, in attempting to describe his qualities as a rider, sometimes struggle to find superlatives; emotion is visibly stirred, while the body language suggests a slight discomfort at an inability to adequately express their sense of him – ‘What can you say about O’Hanlon?’ Personal reminiscences are quickly reverted to – scenes that are burned in the memories of those who rode with him and which might illustrate those subtle qualities: ‘I’ll never forget the day…’
Four outright wins, 24 stage wins and 37 Yellow Jerseys powerfully demonstrate his stature as the most successful Rás rider ever. Such bare statistics, however, merely provide evidence of a phenomenal physical capacity and do little to reveal an equally remarkable intellect. Like the efforts of his peers to signify the essence of O’Hanlon through examples of his feats, the revisiting of a few of the seminal scenes from his Rás career may provide some fleeting illustrations of his combination of acumen and athletic ability which, arguably, produced the most dominant rider ever in Irish domestic cycling. More>>>
Tom Finn’s Rás Tailteann Win 1961
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| Tom Finn Dublin Winner Of Ras Tailteann 1961 |
Year after year, Rás Tailteann reaches new heights, makes new records and surpasses ambitious targets. Such has been its phenomenal growth since its tottering inception in 1954, that it is difficult to write about it without using an endless and repetitive stream of superlatives.
1961 was no exception and on Saturday, June 24th, there came to Dublin, by boat, train, motor car and even by aeroplane, one of the biggest arid certainly the fittest and most select field ever to 'contest the race.
AMONG those who came were two previous winners, iron men, tempered in the fierce competition of previous years, all eager, determined and ambitious to become the first man ever to win the race twice. Their names Ben McKenna and Paddy Flanagan are part of the history, not only of Rás Tailteann but of Irish Cycling. Others came too, who although they had yet to in scribe their names on the Corn Cúchulainn, were as great, if not greater, than those who had triumphed in this one thousand mile marathon. More>>>
Paddy Flanagan Rás Winner In 1960, 64, 75
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| Paddy Flanagan 3 Times Rás Winner |
The world of Irish cycling suffered a tragic loss recently with the sudden death of Paddy Flanagan. The Kildare rider was at the top of the sport for nearly two decades and although he had great success in all branches of cycle sport, he will probably be best remembered for his three victories in the Ras. Only Shay O'Hanlon, with 4 wins, has a better record in Ireland's premier stage race but in some ways Flanagan surpassed the Dubliner, notably in the span of his time at the top, 16 years between his first win in 1960 and his third in 1975. O'Hanlon won first in 1962 and then had a purple period when he took the yellow jersey on the opening stage in 1965 and never lost it for the next three years. It is fitting that Paddy Flanagan should be specially remembered on the Ras website and what better way than to retell the story of those three years. It is also a tribute to another Ras rider who died only a few months earlier. Mick Cahill of Cork was one of the stars of the 1975 Ras and was with Flanagan and O'Hanlon in the break of the race on the final Saturday which gave the Kildare rider his victory. Mick went on to finish 8th overall.
JIM TRAYNOR More>>>
Ben McKenna The Hard Way To Win The Rás 1959
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| Ben McKenna Meath Winner Of Rás Tailteann 1959 |
Anyone wants the formula for winning Rás Tailteann ? Here It Is
Take one bicycle with a broken frame, a team van that won’t go, fall off and injure your leg, wreck your bike on a bad corner and wait two minutes for a spare machine, get a spare machine with a flat tyre and in between times take a wrong turning, win a stage, take a second and a third on two other stages and finish well up on the other five days.
Quiet simple isn’t it ? You ought to try it some time.
Oh by the way, I nearly forgot one very important point. You’ll need Ben McKenna of Meath to ride the bike for you. He’s an expert on winning in that manner for that is exactly how he did it last year.
I might add that Ben hopes to win again this year, but intends to use a slightly less complicated formula for success. As he says himself ”There must be a simpler way of doing it.”
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Mick Murphy Kerry Winner Of Rás Tailteann 1958
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| Mick Murphy Kerry 1958 |
ON a Wednesday afternoon in August 1958, I stood amongst the massive crowd of spectators lining the streets of Killarney awaiting with great expectations the arrival of The Ras Tailteann, Ireland's great eight-day cycle race. The crowds had been building up from early that day, and the feeling of excitement and expectation was something that has remained etched in the memory.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, came a surging, speeding, flashing kaleidoscope of colour as the main bunch or riders raced past us, up High Street and, as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone.
However the crowd was restless. There was something wrong. The race leader s yellow jersey was not in the main bunch, but minutes later there was a huge roar as a lone rider, sporting the coveted yellow jersey, came tearing around the corner of Main Street. Here was the man we had all come to see, Mick Murphy from Caherciveen. More>>>
Meeting The Iron Man Of Irish Cycling
Meeting the Iron Man of Irish cycling
I WAS led on a pleasant detour by Caherciveen butcher and golfer Jimmy Curran to meet somebody known as 'The Iron Man', on account of his exploits as a cyclist back in the 1950s. Cycling as a sport was gaining popularity back then, and the annual stage race around Ireland, An Ras Tailteann, now known as the FBD Insurance Ras, was responsible for a great deal of it.
The Christle brothers, especially the late big man Joe, were the principal organisers and their motivation came from a nationalistic fervour and a love of all aspects of Irish culture. They were inspired by the Tour de France and had a vision of developing such a spectacle in Ireland in their time. Joe Christle was a great character and a brilliant organiser and I cannot recall an occasion when we spoke other than in Irish. He was married to a French lady, Mimi Battutt. Years later, I taught Mel Christle, one of Joe and Mimi's three boxing sons, when I was on the teaching staff at O'Connell School in North Richmond St, Dublin. More>>>
Joseph O'Brien Wins Eight Day Rás Tailteann 1954
Nineteen year old Joseph O’Brien Of The National Cycling Club was declared the winner of Ras Tailteann which concluded in the Phoenix Park yesterday, with the eight and final stage (Newry-Dublin) a distance of 110 miles.
O’Briens time for the eight day’s journey of 700 miles was 40-01-20
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| Joey O'Brien Receives The Race Leaders Yellow Jersey From Wexford Lord Mayor After Stage 1 |
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The Beginnings Of The Rás
Jim Traynor, who died in September 2003, told the story of the early years. Most of the material concerning the conception and organising of the first 8-day comes... More>>>
The Winners List 1953-2008
After this years race Chris Newton of Great Britain joins a select few riders to have won the Rás more than once in the events 54 year history. More>>>
Gene Mangan Honoured
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| Dermot Dignam FBD Insurance Ras Organiser presents 1955 Ras winner Gene Mangan with a special award to mark the occiasion at the end of The FBD Insurance Ras 2005 |
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