Racing from 1977 to 1994, the career of Irishman Sean ‘King Kelly’ spanned a unique period of racing, full of modern legends. In a career racing against such icons as Moser, LeMond, Hinault, Fignon, Merckx, Indurain and Armstrong, Kelly managed to win 193 professional races, including nine monument classics and a Grand Tour.
Kelly went hard, every time. He could climb, sprint, descend (at 124kph), instigate a winning break and handle the cobbles so well he has been called the last great Flandrian rider.
He competed and succeeded throughout the season, from Paris–Nice in March to the Giro di Lombardia in October, winning both in 1983 and 1985.
He won Paris–Nice seven years in a row and the first UCI Road World Cup in 1989. He won the 1988 Vuelta a España and had multiple wins in the Giro di Lombardia, Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Other victories included the Critérium International, Grand Prix des Nations, the Tour de Suisse, Tour of the Basque Country and Volta a Catalunya.
Kelly won five stages in the Tour de France and 16 in the Vuelta a España, winning the Vuelta outright in 1988.
Being Irish, Kelly had a natural affinity for Green Jerseys, and won the Tour de France points classification in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1989 (the first rider to win the Green Jersey four times), a feat he repeated in the Vuelta a España. He also won the 10-race points-based UCI World Cup series in 1989.
As the undisputed king of Irish cycling and indisputably a member of Green Jersey royalty, Soigneur is proud to commemorate King Kelly with this superbly comfortable, high quality and ethically produced merino cycling jersey - buy yours now.
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