Celtic Soul Brother: Robert Millar gives Sean Kelly a vital helping hand on the way to the Irishman winning the 1988 Vuelta (Photo: Stefano Sirotti)
By Graham Healy
Ireland's Dan Martin and Philip Deignan line up for the Vuelta a España on Saturday, where Martin is an outside bet for a final podium finish.
Both Irish riders have won stages here before; Deignan in 2009 and Martin in 2011. Both could do it again this time around.
The race has also yielded the career best general classification results for the Irish specialist climbers, with Deignan 9th in 2009 and Martin 13th two years later.
The Vuelta has proven a happy hunting ground for Irish riders in the past, with Shay Elliott, Sean Kelly, Deignan, Nicolas Roche and Martin all winning stages there.
But 1988 stands out as a year to remember, with Sean Kelly lifting the overall title.
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In 1987, Kelly had come so close to his first win in a Grand Tour.
He took over the Vuelta leader’s jersey after the Valladolid time trial, and with five stages remaining he looked to be in a great position to win overall.
Often forgotten, Sean Kelly was a world class time trial rider; a skill that helped him to the Vuelta win in 1988.
However, unbeknownst to his rivals, Kelly had been struggling with a saddle sore which had become inflamed.
A mere 14 kilometres into the next stage to Avila, Kelly could no longer bear the pain and had to dismount. The great Colombian climber, Luis Herrera ended up winning the race.
Kelly was determined in 1988 to make amends for his near-miss the previous year. He told the press that, “having to abandon last year left a thorn in my side. I’m ready to pluck it out”.
The race that year started off in the Canaries, and it seemed that the Spanish BH team were going to dominate.
Their team leader, Laudelino Cubino took the yellow jersey on the second stage, and held onto it until the 14th stage when his team mate Anselmo Fuerte took over.
Despite their best efforts on the mountainous stages in northern Spain, the BH team were unable to shake off the Irishman, and he was never any more than two minutes behind overall.
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Just months after his biggest ever win, Kelly would leave the Kas team with whom he took the Vuelta title.
Their best opportunity to gain time on the Irishman was on the queen stage to the Pyrenean climb of Cerler.
BH sent Alvaro Pino to the front of the group to try and put Kelly under pressure. However, it was his team mate Cubino who struggled more, and to confound matters his chain jammed.
Robert Millar, who had also been an ally to Stephen Roche in the previous year’s Giro, helped pace Kelly to the top of the climb and limit his losses.
On the stage to Albacete, Kelly gained some time back on Cubino when he split the peloton with 20 kilometres to go.
The penultimate stage was a 30-kilometre time-trial, and after keeping his rivals in check, Kelly was now favourite to win the race overall.
He duly won the time trial in Villalba, and all that was remaining was the short stage to Madrid for Kelly to claim his first and only Grand Tour win. He had made amends for his bad luck the previous year.
Kelly now heads up his own team, An Post-Chainreaction. Competing at Continental level, it contains a number of Irish riders.
Not only did Kelly win the gold jersey, but he also won the points competition and was third in the mountains classification.
It should also be remembered that Kelly’s Irish team mate Martin Earley had his best Grand Tour in the 1988 Vuelta, finishing 19th.
After his Vuelta win Kelly returned to Carrick-on-Suir where a parade was held in his honour.
And with Roche’s wins in the Giro and Tour the previous year, for a short time Ireland held the titles in the three big races; the Vuelta being run in late April and early May back then.
Kelly didn’t return to defend his title the following year, as the owner of his KAS team died, and the Irishman signed for the Dutch PDM team instead.
Hopefully, Martin and Deignan will be able to add to the stage wins already on their CVs over the next three weeks and Martin may do a lot more than that.
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