Sean Kelly
Irish former professional road bicycle racer · Ireland · On the map · Athletes · Born 1956 · age 70
John James 'Sean' Kelly is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer, one of the most successful road cyclists of the 1980s, and one of the finest Classics riders of all time.
Sean Kelly is read about 148 times a day, in 30 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 111 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around Sean
Close ties
Raúl Alcalá Teammate at PDM, 1989-1991
Éric Caritoux Teammate at Sem, 1982-1985- Acácio da Silva Teammate at Kas, 1986-1988
- Alfred Achermann Teammate at Kas, 1986-1988
Nico Verhoeven Teammate at PDM, 1989-1991- Martin Earley Teammate at PDM, 1989-1991
- René Bittinger Teammate at Sem, 1982-1985
- Jean-Marie Grezet Teammate at Sem, 1983-1985
- John van den Akker Teammate at PDM, 1989-1991
Career 7
Media & music
Photos 7
The man who discovered Sean Kelly, Jean de Gribaldy.
Sean Kelly, second from right, showing his sprinting prowess at the 1981 Züri-Metzgete.
Kelly (right) with Etienne De Wilde in 1988.
Sean Kelly with PDM-Ultima-Concorde at the 1989 Tour de France.
Kelly (left) with the Festina-Lotus team at the 1993 Paris-Nice.
Plaque on the cobbled section, Espace Charles Crupelandt of the Paris-Roubaix, honouring Kelly's victories in 1984 and 1986.About this person
From becoming a professional in 1977 until his retirement in 1994, he won 193 professional races, including nine Monument Classics, Paris-Nice a record seven years consecutively and the first UCI Road World Cup in 1989. Kelly won one Grand Tour, the 1988 Vuelta a España, and four green jerseys in the Tour de France. He achieved multiple victories in the Giro di Lombardia, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as three runners-up placings in the only Monument he failed to win, the Tour of Flanders. Other victories include the Grand Prix des Nations and stage races, the Critérium International, Tour de Suisse, Tour of the Basque Country and Volta a Catalunya.
