The riders tackled stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia today. But the 14th stage of the race was won by Martin Earley, exactly 30 years ago. Have a look at the highlights below.
The riders in the Giro d'Italia tackled stage 14 of the race today, Sunday; 210km from Alpago to Corvara won by Orica-GreenEdge’s Estebán Chaves.
But the winner of stage 14 in 1986 - 30 years ago now - was Ireland's Martin Earley. And just because we can, we've published a highlights video of his win at the bottom of this piece.
Just one Irish rider won a stage of the Giro d’Italia before him, and only one since.
“I still remember it well,” recalled Earley of that seven hour, 236 kilometre trek from Savona to Sauze d’Ouix in 1986 when he spoke to stickybottle.
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It was his biggest professional win and only his second at that stage of his career. The fact he beat the likes of Greg LeMond and Roberto Visentini made it all the more impressive.
“It was unbelievable, as a young lad I had only ever dreamed of riding as a professional, and there I was competing in the Giro d’Italia and being able to compete and win a stage.
“It was just an unbelievable feeling. Only a few years earlier I was riding races in the Phoenix Park.
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“It didn’t change my life by any means, though, it gave me a bit of confidence but it didn’t change my life. I had won a stage of the Tour of the Basque country that year as well so.
“I more or less knew at that stage where I was, I knew I wasn’t one of the best riders by any means. But I knew I wasn’t at the back of the bunch either.
“So I knew, on my day, getting into the right break, I could compete with anyone, as long as the right people were there and the situation was right. I had good placings before that and I knew I was capable of it.”
Earley was a very clever rider, and with his oversized glasses, looked more like a college professor than a pro cyclist. And he needed all his racing smarts to win that day at the Giro.
“In fairness, if you look at the results that day and the people behind me (Visentini, LeMond, Giuliani) there’s some amazing guys not that far behind.
"But I was lucky because I was away in a break for a long time and the rest of the riders behind me got caught and I didn’t.
“I jumped at the right time and stayed away. I won it by the skin of my teeth, and that’s the beauty of cycling. You get into the right break and things happen. I’ll never forget that.”
Stage 14, Giro d'Italia 1986
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