John James 'Sean' Kelly (born 24 May 1956 is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer and one of the most successful road cyclists of the 1980s and one of the finest classics riders of all time.
From turning professional in 1977 until his retirement in 1994, he won nine monument classics, and 193 professional races in total - the Paris–Nice seven years in a row and the first UCI Road World Cup in 1989, the 1988 Vuelta a España with multiple wins in the Giro di Lombardia, Milan – San Remo, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Other victories include the Critérium International, Grand Prix des Nationsand smaller tours including the Tour de Suisse, Vuelta al País Vasco and Volta a Catalunya.
Although Kelly never won the World Road Race Championships, he twice won bronze medals (1982 & 1989) & also finished 5th in 1987, the year compatriot Stephen Roche won gold. Kelly was first to be ranked No.1 when the FICP rankings were introduced in March 1984, a position he held for a record six years. In the 1984 season, Kelly achieved 33 victories.
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