Declan Lonergan wears the green jersey as leader of the points classification during the Rás in the early 90s. The Waterford man is a previous winner of seven stages as well as the overall. His career post-cycling, however, is even more impressive than anything he done on the bike
By Brian Canty
His role in one of cycling's biggest luxury brands may have passed by most people in his native Ireland, but for Rás winner and Olympian Declan Lonergan is now a key figure at Oakley.
And he played a key role, working with Mark Cavendish, in developing the Oakley Jawbreaker sunglasses now worn by many of the world's best riders.
Lonergan, now aged 46 years, is from The Folly close to the Tramore Road outside Waterford city and is almost 20 years working with the eyewear specialists.
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He recalls a meeting with Mark Cavendish in 2013 during which they discussed what have since become the ‘go-to’ glasses for many bike riders.
With fellow Irish team member Robert Power and US star Greg Lemond at the Nissan Classic in 1990. Lemond would help raise the profile of the Oakley brand, especially in the US market where Lonergan now has a key position.
“I don’t like to take credit but I did enjoy sitting down with Mark Cavendish to develop the latest glasses," Lonergan told stickybottle.
"He was the man who gave the Jawbreaker model the lift it needed. He’s a friend of Oakley, he came here and we had a meeting and we asked him what he wants.
“He said he wanted something that’s a complete frame. He didn’t want any semi-rimless or rimless glasses.
"He wanted a suit of armour for his eyes with an interchangeable frame that will last for six hours on the bike.
On international duty, left to right: Dave Peelo, Barry Monaghan, Tommie Evans, Richie McCauley, Mel Sutcliffe and Lonergan.
“He’s a sprinter. He gets beaten up; his helmet, his face. It’s very rough and tough out there so he wants a tough pair of eyewear.
“So sitting there with Cav for an hour a couple of years ago and watching him and developing what he wanted; I was involved right from the very start and I also helped launch the product.
“Yes, they’re expensive but you get what you pay for and I think a lot of people are happy with the quality of Oakley,” added the former track and road international.
As Oakley’s sunglasses and goggle category manager for North America, Lonergan is more than a little modest in his assessment of his role.
The company's flagship product in the 80s was the ‘Eyeshade’ model made famous by three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond while more recently the Jawbone and aforementioned Jawbreakers dominate the peloton.
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Lonergan looking cool and composed while wearing the leader's jersey during the 1994 Rás - a race he would go on to win.
“It’s been great for me,” Lonergan said of his near two-decade association with the company.
“When I joined we were (making) $300-350 million a year so to watch it go to $1.5 billion has been awesome to watch.
“Now, it depends on the country but Oakley’s sales results last year in the US hit $1.5 billion so it’s a big number and eyewear is about 70% of that.
“We also make a lot of prescription eyewear, prescription frames, clothing, technical wear, there’s a lot of categories.
"But the bread and butter is eyewear and what the peloton wear now is a newer version of the eyeshade from the days of LeMond and Hampsten and the boys.”
An old photo of the SAAB team from 1995 which Lonergan was a part of. The Irishman is third from the right.
Lonergan travels quite a bit with his job and be it Melbourne or Tokyo, Sau Paulo or London he reckons he’s clocked up two million miles with United Airlines alone.
“I did a lot of travelling with cycling but a lot more with Oakley,” he laughs.
He still gets out on the bike but not near as much as he’d like. Though when he does he can cruise to idyllic places like Laguna or Newport beach on America’s sun-kissed west coast.
Yet despite the dream life he’s built, he still hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“I’ve actually been more interested with connecting back over the last four years than I was in the previous 20 years," he says of Ireland.
“I come home once or twice a year to visit my family and it’s great but California is home for now.
“I got married just three years ago and I own a home here so I suppose I’d call this my current home. But Ireland is always home. That’s where my family and my heart is.”
Ireland's Nicolas Roche is just one of many riders who swear by the Oakley Jawbreaker sunglasses.
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