Seamus Elliott

Seamus Elliott

Seamus "Shay" Elliott (born June 4, 1934 in Dublin , † May 4, 1971 ibid) was an Irish cyclist . He was the first Irishman to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey .

Cycling career

In 1954 Seamus Elliott was Irish champion in the amateur road race . In 1956 he became a professional and continued for French teams , mainly as domestics for Jacques Anquetil and Jean Stablinski . He started six times in the Tour de France ; In 1963 he won the third stage and wore the yellow jersey for four days. During the 1959 Tour Elliott became a tragic hero: Brian Robinson , who started together with Elliott (although he was Irish) in the British national team and had recently won a stage, was so exhausted that he drove far behind and out of the field Time limit fell, only Elliott stayed with him. While Elliott then had to end the tour, Robinson was able to continue, as according to the rules no driver who was placed in the top ten could be excluded for exceeding the limit.

At the Vuelta a España in 1962 , Elliott finished third in the overall standings, after leading the race until the last individual time trial . At the subsequent road world championships in 1962 , he won the silver medal in the professional race. Between 1956 and 1966 he competed regularly at the UCI World Championships in road racing for professional drivers. Only in 1965 could he not finish the race. After his silver medal in 1962, 14th place in 1956 was his second best result. Smaller races that he won were among others. a. the Grand Prix d'Isbergues (1956) and the Omloop Het Volk (1959), the latter race as the first non-Belgian. In 1964 he temporarily stopped cycling, but tried several comebacks.

After the sport

After a final season with a British team in 1970, Seamus Elliott ended his cycling career for good. His marriage to Jean Stablinski's sister failed and his only son was killed in a traffic accident. In 1971, 36-year-old Seamus Elliott was found dead in his apartment; he died from a gunshot wound. The police investigation found suicide.

Honors

The Shay Elliott Memorial has been held annually in Ireland since 1971, previously called Route de Chill Mhantain and, since the late 1960s, the Shay Elliott Trophy , the winner of which was still honored by Elliott himself. The Elliott is considered to be the most prestigious one-day race in Ireland. A memorial to him was erected near Drumgoff Bridge in County Wicklow .

family

Seamus Elliott is an older brother of cyclist Paul Elliott .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Shay Elliott on rapha.cc ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Helmer Boelsen : The history of the cycling world championships . Covadonga, Bielefeld, ISBN 978-3-936973-33-4 , p. 218-220 .
3. ↑ Velo Gotha , Brussels 1983, p. 172
4. ↑ braywheelers.com ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Photo of the monument on geograph.ie

literature

• Graham Healy / Richard Allchin: Shay Elliott: The Life And Death Of Ireland's First Yellow Jersey , Mousehold Press 2011

Web links

• Seamus Elliott in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Seamus Elliott in the Tour de France database(French / English )
• Shay Elliott on bikeraceinfo.com
• The Flahute on cyclismas.com