The Giro d'Italia will on Sunday whizz past the spot in Dublin where the legendary Shay Elliott died. Seen here winning a stage of the 1960 race; the first Irishman to ride the race and the first English speaking rider to win a Giro stage.
By Graham Healy
The first ever Irish stage win in the Giro d’Italia was achieved fifty four years ago, and as with so many other firsts for English-speaking cyclists, the man who accomplished the feat was Shay Elliott.
He was enjoying a good season in 1960, his fifth in the professional ranks, and was selected by the manager of the Fynsec-Helyett team Mickey Wiegant to take part in the Giro.
Having taken victory in the Tour de France a few years previously, Elliott’s team leader Jacques Anquetil was now bidding to become the first Frenchman to win the Italian race.
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Anquetil and Wiegant identified Elliott as being one of the key men to help him in his bid.
Prior to the race, Wiegant told the Dubliner his priority was to work for Anquetil. But if the opportunity arose to go for a stage win, then he should take his chances.
Elliott had come close to winning a stage of the Giro the previous year, so he wanted to make amends for that.
In the 1959 race he had attacked on the sixth stage from Rome to Naples, along with Miguel Poblet. The Spaniard was a phenomenal sprinter, so Elliott attacked his breakaway companion within the last three kilometres.
However, he seized up with cramp with four hundred metres remaining and was overtaken, finishing in tenth place.
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Elliott had to wait until the stage 18 for his first opportunity in the 1960 race. It happened to be the longest stage of the race - over 240 kilometres from Trieste to Belluno - and went over the Passo della Mauria.
The Irishman broke clear with a number of others including the talented Graziano Battistini. The Italian would go on to finish in 2nd place in the Tour de France later that summer, in addition to winning two stages.
Battistini duly attacked in the last few kilometres and looked to be heading for the win. However, he fell on a corner and was overtaken by Elliott, who held on to win.
He was not only the first Irish stage winner in the Giro, but also the first English-speaker to win a stage.
His team leader Anquetil did manage to win the race overall in Milan, despite a late challenge from Gastone Nencini.
That year’s race was Elliott’s last time to take part in the Giro, as his focus switched to the Vuelta a Espana and the Tour de France over the next few years.
It would be another twenty six years before the next Irishmen would line up in the race, when Martin Earley and Stephen Roche took part in the ’86 race.
As the riders enter the last kilometre of Sunday’s stage on City Quay in Dublin, they will pass within metres of where Elliott tragically died in 1971 on Prince’s Street South.
For any spectators waiting near that spot, it’s worthwhile to walk a few steps away from the barriers to see the plaque on the wall and remember the first Irish Giro stage winner.
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