Sean Kelly has said the period he raced in was more enjoyable than the current era, adding it was much harder now to win as many races as he did given the sheer strength in depth in the peloton, the way the teams were structured and tactics now deployed in races.
In a new TV documentary on his career, Kelly also spoke about the death of his brother, Joe, in 1991 and the impact it had on his career. He said though it was a very hard time for him, the support of the people around him ensured he redoubled his efforts in the final seasons of his career.
Speaking on a new documentary - Legends Sean Kelly - on GCN+, Kelly said when he looked at modern cycling, he saw a different sport to the won he was in, up to his retirement in 1994.
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"I feel that in my years, it was the more enjoyable years, certainly. Looking at the riders now, it's more difficult to win a lot of races because there's so many riders… when you look at a team starting in the classics, you can pick out maybe four or five riders in one team who can win.
"In my time, it was one leader (per team) and everybody was riding for him. So to win more races (back then) it was a bit easier. To win 30 plus races in a season is very difficult.
"And you do see these guys coming, when Sagan appeared I was expecting him to win Paris-Nices and those sorts of week-long races, but he never achieved it. Van Aert, of course, he's looking very good and I think if he really focusses on it, he can do that; win stage races that are a week long, and possibly a three-weeker. Who knows, may he has the best years still ahead of him?
"It's more competitive all over now. The way they race, the tactics in the races and also you have the team structures make it more difficult to win lots of races."
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Kelly added he was "hungry to win" when he raced and no matter how much ability a rider had, he rated hunger as the single most important ingredient when assessing how much a rider might go on and win during their career.
He also said he had "no regrets" when he looked at his career, especially when he considered the foreign travel it involved and all of the people he met along the way, many of whom he still kept in touch with. Kelly also spoke about the death of his brother Joe, who was killed in a cycling crash - hit by a driver in a car during a sportive close to home - in 1991.
"It was a real shock. I was out in Spain, I had just done San Sebastian and I got a call just after that, that he'd had this tragic accident, only half a mile from the home place.
"He was on a sportive event, the Comeragh 100, and he was out in front and was taken out, hit by a car and killed instantly."
Kelly said while Joe's death was "very difficult", his widow and other family members encouraged him to keep going, telling him his brother would want him to persevere with his career.
"I think he pushed me that bit more to go and win Lombardia, for example, later in that year. It certainly pushed me that year and the following year to make the effort," he said.
Kelly added he was thinking of his brother a lot as he raced and that success he achieved helped prolong the latter stages of his career, before retiring in 1994.
