During a recent event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nissan Classic, Galway man Aidan Reade managed to recreate an image from the race 30 years before, with himself playing Sean Kelly. Even the bike he used is the same as the one Kelly used - a Kas Vitus 979.
By Brian Canty
Galway cyclist Aidan Reade has done a crafty remake of one of the most iconic shots from the days of the Nissan Classic - with himself as Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly.
Reade, who is also chairman of the Irish track commission, is a huge fan of Kelly's and recreated the shot while on a ride that took in the Gap of Dunloe.
In the original photo, taken during the 1985 Nissan, Kelly is towards the front of the race in his KAS-Guinness jersey.
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He is surrounded by some of the biggest stars of the time, including fellow Irish riders Stephen Roche and Martin Earley.
Against the stunning backdrop of the Auger lake outside Killarney, the pictures are remarkably similar and hardly a thing has changed.
However, despite dropping half the peloton in his shot, Reade is clearly under a little more stress than Kelly was!
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“It was amazing how it happened,” Reade explained.
“I was down there for a training ride before the World Track Masters in the Oldvelos Vintage International Classic featuring the original co-promoter of the Nissan Alan Rushton.
"And when I was riding up the climb it kind of just hit me that I’d seen it before.
“Kelly was my hero and it just so happened that I was wearing KAS kit and there was a rider in Panasonic kit behind me, just like in the shot taken 30 years ago.
Reade, on a Kas Vitus 979 similar to the one Kelly used, is hoofing a massive 42X25 gear.
“It definitely wasn’t easy but it’s unreal how it came out; the photographer got it pretty much the same as the one who took the shot of Kelly back then,” he added.
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