This was a great time in Irish Cycling with Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche making their mark in the Tour de France. The two Irishmen were climbing to the top of international road racing, it was very inspiring for any upcoming Irish riders. Knowing that we can take on the best in the world.
Ever since Kelly and Roche, we have many Irish riders racing in roads events, too many to mention, but I can't leave out the incredible performances of Ben Healy in recent years.
Similarly today, we have two Irish bikers, also climbing to the top of the World Downhill races. Ronan Dunne and Oisin O'Callaghan are flying the Irish flag at UCI World cup events, both are at the top of their game and are also a great inspiration for Irish riders in downhill.
And we also have huge successes on the Track with the women's team, only a few weeks ago Lara Gillespie took gold at the UCI Track World Championships in Chile.
Here is a 'Photos Slideshow Compilation' by Peter Purfield with background music: New Order - 'Blue Monday'
1983 Tour de France General Classification
1. Laurent Fignon (Renault-Elf-Gitane) 105hr 7min 52sec
2. Angel Arroyo (Reynolds) @ 4min 4sec
3. Peter Winnen (TI-Raleigh) @ 4min 9sec
4. Lucien van Impe (Metauromobili) @ 4min 16sec
5. Robert Alban (La Redoute-Motobecane) @ 7min 53sec
6. Jean-René Bernaudeau (Wolber) @ 8min 59sec
7. Sean Kelly (SEM-Mavic-Reydel) @ 12min 9sec
8. Marc Madiot (Renault) @ 14min 55sec
9. Phil Anderson (Peugeot) @ 16min 56sec
10. Henk Lubberding (TI-Raleigh) @ 18min 55sec
11. Joaquim Agostinho (SEM-Mavic-Reydel) @ 19min
12. Jonathan Boyer (SEM-Mavic-Reydel) @ 19min 57sec
13. Stephen Roche (Peugeot) @ 21min 30sec
14. Robert Millar (Peugeot) @ 23min 29sec
15. Pedro Delgado (Reynolds) @ 25min 44sec
16. Edgar Corredor (Colombia-Varta) @ 26min 8sec
17. Patrocinio Jimenez (Colombia-Varta) @ 28min 5sec
18. Claude Criquielion (Euro Shop-Splendor) @ 33min 29sec
19. Jacques Michaud (Coop-Mercier-Mavic) @ 35min 34sec
20. Christian Seznec (Wolber) @ 39min 49sec
21. Pierre Bazzo (Coop-Mercier-Mavic) @ 40min 34sec
22. Beat Breu (Cilo-Aufina) @ 43min 53sec
23. Joop Zoetemelk (Coop-Mercier-Mavic) @ 47min 40sec
24. Eric Caritoux (SEM-Mavic-Reydel) @ 52min 56sec
25. Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (La Redoute-Motobecane) @ 54min 8sec
26. Dominique Arnaud (Wolber) @ 57min 23sec
27. Gerard Veldscholten (TI-Raleigh) @ 1hr
28. Kim Andersen (Coop-Mercier-Mavic) @ 1hr 2min 58sec
29. Theo De Rooy (TI-Raleigh) @ 1hr 5min 41sec
30. Marc Durant (Wolber) @ 1hr 9min 28sec
1983 Tour de France quick facts: 3,862 kilometers divided into 22 stages plus a prologue individual time trial. Average speed was 35.915 km/hr. There were 140 starters and 88 classified finishers.
If you want to see more 'Picture Slideshows' click here