Seamus Elliott
Encyclopedia
Seamus 'Shay' Elliott was an Irish
road bicycle racer.
Shay Elliott was the first Irish cyclist to make a mark as a professional rider in continental Europe.
A talented rider, he spent most of his career riding as a domestique for stars such as Jacques Anquetil
and Jean Stablinski
.
He won stages in all the Grand Tours
and was 2nd (to Stablinski) in the 1962 World Road Championship at Salò
in Italy
.
He was the first Irishman to wear the yellow jersey
in the Tour de France (1963)
and he came third in the 1962 Vuelta a España
. He won the Omloop "Het Volk" semi-classic in 1959.
and hurling
and didn't learn to ride a bicycle until he was 14. He used it to ride to the town of Naas
. He joined a small cycling club attached to St Brandon's church, Dublin, when he was 16 and took part in races of about 20 miles that the church organised around the city streets. He came second in his first race,riding a scrap bike with a single fixed wheel that led his pedals to bang the road on corners. The winner had a specialised racing bike.
Elliott joined the Southern Road Club when he was 17 and, on a racing bike, won the Grand Prix of Ireland run over 50 km in the Phoenix Park
. The club broke up soon afterwards and Elliott joined the Dublin Wheelers
in March 1952. That summer he won the Mannin Veg, a race over one lap of the TT motorcycling circuit on the Isle of Man
. He also won the Dublin-Galway-Dublin two-day race, winning the race back to Dublin in a sprint.
In 1953 he rode the Manx International, over three laps of the TT circuit, for the Ireland "B" team. He fell on the tricky turn at Governor's Bridge
, shortly before the finish, but came fourth.
Elliott won the 1953 Irish amateur road championship. His second place in the Tour of Ireland that year earned him a trip to the Simplex training camp in Monte Carlo
the following spring.
Jock Wadley
said of him in Sporting Cyclist
:
He said that Elliott was one of several riders asked to strip for examination by the soigneur Raymond Le Bert, who normally worked for Louison Bobet
. Wadley wrote:
Elliott did not return permanently to Ireland at the end of the training camp. He had just finished six years as an apprentice sheet-metal worker and he and his family in Old County Road in Crumlin, Dublin, had decided that he had mastered panel-beating and would have a trade to return to if his efforts to become a professional cyclist failed. He contacted a former French professional, Francis Pélissier
, for advice. Pélissier told Elliott to compete in as many races as possible, at least three or four a week - possibly in France, but not in Ireland, a cycling backwater. Elliott planned to move to Ghent
in Belgium
, where he could race several times a week and, as an amateur
, win money denied to him in Ireland. At the training camp, however, he met the journalist and race organiser Jean Leulliot who told him he would burn himself out in round-the-houses racing. He urged him to move to Paris
.
Leulliot remembered how Elliott had won the Tourmalet stage of the 1954 Route de France, which Leulliot's paper, Route et Piste, organised. Leulliot asked in his paper for someone to accommodate Elliott in the capital and added "The Irishman is soaked with class and has a great future before him."
The appeal was answered by Paul "Mickey" Wiegant of the Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris
, France's top amateur team. Elliott won five one-day amateur classics in 1955 and set the world 10 km amateur record on the Vélodrome d'Hiver
in Paris. He became a professional for the 1956 season.
, outsprinting André Darrigade
. He also won the GP Catox and the GP Isbergues. In his first major race of 1957, the Omloop "Het Volk" in Belgium, he made a race-long break with Englishman Brian Robinson. The break was caught near the finish but Elliott's form was noted. He won the Circuit de la Vienne.
He became a team-mate of Jacques Anquetil
and Jean Stablinski
, staying with the team under different sponsors for much of his career.
In 1959 he won Omloop "Het Volk", the first foreigner to succeed. He attacked on the Mur de Grammont with 30 km to ride and dropped all his rivals except Fred De Bruyne
, the Belgian hope. The pair raced together to the finish where Elliott won easily. That season Elliott rode the Tour de France, then run for national teams, in a mixed team that included the Englishman, Brian Robinson. Robinson rode above his level across the Massif Central
and next day paid the price. He trailed far behind the field.
William Fotheringham wrote:
Both finished outside the time limit and expected to be sent home. But the team's manager, Sauveur Ducazeaux, insisted the judges apply a rule that no rider in the first ten could be eliminated. Robinson had started the day ninth: it was Elliott who was sent home. "The mother hen was cooked; the chick avoided the pot", Fotheringham said.
In 1962 Elliott came third in the 1962 Vuelta a España
, winning the fourth stage and coming second in the points classification. He led the race for nine days.
In the 1962 world road championship at Salò
in Italy
, he got into the winning break with Stablinski. Stablinksi was a team-mate in the professional peloton but a rival in the championship, where riders rode in national teams. However, Elliott and Stablinksi worked to wear down the other break members. When Stablinksi attacked, Elliott refused to chase and the Frenchman won alone. Elliott eventually broke away to take the silver medal. Elliott admitted he had sacrificed his chance for Stablinski's benefit.
"Team loyalty was a theme that ran throughout Elliott's career," noted the editor of Cycling
Martin Ayres.
Elliott said: "I'm not supposed to say that I helped Jean, but he's the best friend I've got in cycling and godfather to my son, Pascal. So I couldn't very well go after him, could I?"
Elliott's best result was in the 1963 Tour de France
. There the pair's roles were reversed. Both men broke clear in a 12-man group on the third stage, to Roubaix
. Neither tried to improve the breakaway group's lead because their leader, Anquetil, was in the main field. The breakaway lasted 150 km, however, and the lead grew to nine minutes. When Elliott twice punctured, Stablinksi controlled the break to allow him to regain his place. With no chance left for Anquetil to catch the leaders or to reduce his disadvantage, Elliott and Stablinski were freed to follow their own tactics. Stablinski led the group on to a cycle path beside one of the cobbled roads for which the area was known. The only rider not to follow was Elliott, he and Stablinski calculating that the others would find it hard to get off the cycle path once then were on it. Elliott sprinted away on the cobbles with six kilometres to the finish in the velodrome in Roubaix
. He won by 33 seconds, enough to give him the yellow jersey
of leadership. He held it for three days. Another 20 years passed before another Irishman, Sean Kelly
, led the Tour.
Elliott spent his career as a domestique a rider who sacrifices his chances for his leader, but with the right to sprint for wins. He made a career from appearance contracts and start money, riding criteriums in Belgium - the races that Leulliot said would burn him out - and races in Britain, including a meeting at the velodrome at Herne Hill
in London where the star attraction was the Italian, Fausto Coppi
. Elliott also rode and won the professional race on the Isle of Man, the Manx Premier.
Elliott was contracted to ride London-Holyhead in 1965, at 275 miles the longest single-day race in the world not to use pacers. Tom Simpson
won, beating Elliott and a domestic professional, Albert Hitchen. Controversy started the moment that Cycling
printed a picture of the sprint. Elliott had his hands tugging his brakes before the line. The magazine suggested he was braking to avoid the crowd further down the road. But many thought it a fix. Elliott later wrote a newspaper article admitting that he made more money by selling races than winning them.
Another rider in the race, a domestic semi-professional called Pete Ryalls, said in Procycling
in 2008:
Elliott, braking to stop Hitchen behind him, so Simpson could win, was riding in Simpson's pay. Simpson had already offered Elliott £1,000 to help him win the world championship in 1963. Elliott had refused, speculation being that he had been offered more by someone else.
. Elliott planned for retirement by opening a hotel in Loctudy in Brittany
. That took so much of his time that he could ride only local races. After promising Mercier-BP that he would make amends in the world championship, the chain came off his bicycle and he finished 15th.
Things grew worse. His marriage to Stablinski's sister, Marguerite, failed. The hotel, too, failed and Elliott lost all his money. To make amends, he sold a story to the British newspaper, The People
, telling of drug-taking and bribery. The article went into few details but was enough for him to be snubbed by other professionals. The same had happened to Simpson when he sold his story to the same paper. But while Simpson recovered despite reprimands from his agent, criticism in the cycling press and a threat of dismissal by his team, Elliott's career never regained momentum.
Jock Wadley, who had shared a room with Elliott at the Simplex training camp, said: "I knew times were hard for him but nobody knew just how hard until he had to do that."
team and came 21st in his first race, London-Holyhead. Domestic professional racing was not as attractive or rewarding as continental. Combining cycling with a full-time job meant he struggled. Despite problems, he continued to ride, train juniors and formulate plans for Irish cycling.
On 21 April 1971 his father James "Jim" Elliott died. Two days after his father's funeral, on May 4, 1971, Elliott was found dead in the living quarters above the family business premises. The cause of death was from a shotgun wound. He was laid to rest alongside his father at St Mochonogs Church, Kilmacanogue near Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
is run every year in Ireland in his honour. The race was previously known as the Route de Chill Mhantain (Circuit of Wicklow). It became the Shay Elliott Trophy in the late sixties, then the Shay Elliott Memorial after his death in 1971. The race is still the most prestigious Irish one-day event after the national championship.
A monument to Elliott erected by friends stands at the top of the climb from Drumgoff Bridge, Glenmalure heading towards Laragh
in County Wicklow
, Ireland
.
1954
Irish National Road Race Championships
(CN)
1955
Irish National Road Race Championships
(CN)
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
road bicycle racer.
Shay Elliott was the first Irish cyclist to make a mark as a professional rider in continental Europe.
A talented rider, he spent most of his career riding as a domestique for stars such as Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
and Jean Stablinski
Jean Stablinski
Jean Stablewski, known as Jean Stablinski was a French professional cyclist from a family of Polish immigrants. He rode from 1952 to 1968, winning 105 races as a professional...
.
He won stages in all the Grand Tours
Grand Tour (cycling)
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...
and was 2nd (to Stablinski) in the 1962 World Road Championship at Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
He was the first Irishman to wear the yellow jersey
Yellow jersey
The general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...
in the Tour de France (1963)
1963 Tour de France
The 1963 Tour de France was the 50th Tour de France, taking place June 23 to July 14, 1963. The total race distance was 21 stages over 4137 km, with riders averaging 37.092 km/h...
and he came third in the 1962 Vuelta a España
1962 Vuelta a España
The 1962 Vuelta a España was the 17th Vuelta a España, taking place from April 27 to May 13, 1962. It consisted of 17 stages over 2806 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.684 km/h....
. He won the Omloop "Het Volk" semi-classic in 1959.
Amateur career
Elliott was the eldest son of James and Ellen Elliott. He played Gaelic footballGaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
and hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
and didn't learn to ride a bicycle until he was 14. He used it to ride to the town of Naas
Naas
Naas is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. With a population of just over twenty thousand, it is also the largest town in the county. Naas is a major commuter suburb, with many people residing there and working in Dublin...
. He joined a small cycling club attached to St Brandon's church, Dublin, when he was 16 and took part in races of about 20 miles that the church organised around the city streets. He came second in his first race,riding a scrap bike with a single fixed wheel that led his pedals to bang the road on corners. The winner had a specialised racing bike.
Elliott joined the Southern Road Club when he was 17 and, on a racing bike, won the Grand Prix of Ireland run over 50 km in the Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
. The club broke up soon afterwards and Elliott joined the Dublin Wheelers
Dublin Wheelers
Dublin Wheelers is a cycling club based in Dublin, Ireland. The club was established in 1933 by a group of six friends on a weekend away cycling in Rostrevor...
in March 1952. That summer he won the Mannin Veg, a race over one lap of the TT motorcycling circuit on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. He also won the Dublin-Galway-Dublin two-day race, winning the race back to Dublin in a sprint.
In 1953 he rode the Manx International, over three laps of the TT circuit, for the Ireland "B" team. He fell on the tricky turn at Governor's Bridge
Governor's Bridge
Governor's Bridge is a double hairpin bend and road junction on the primary A18 Mountain Road in the parish of Onchan in the Isle of Man between the 37th Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course and the TT Grandstand on the primary A2 Glencrutchery Road in the town of Douglas.The...
, shortly before the finish, but came fourth.
Elliott won the 1953 Irish amateur road championship. His second place in the Tour of Ireland that year earned him a trip to the Simplex training camp in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
the following spring.
Jock Wadley
Jock Wadley
John Borland Wadley was an English journalist whose magazines and reporting opened Continental cycle racing to fans in Britain....
said of him in Sporting Cyclist
Sporting Cyclist
Sporting Cyclist was a British cycling A4-sized magazine originally called Coureur. It began in 1957 and closed after 131 issues in October 1968.-Coureur:...
:
I can not remember all the items in Shay's luggage, of course. But I can hardly forget that one whole compartment in the chest of drawers was devoted to provisions which Shay had brought from Ireland, the chief stock being 2lb [1kg] of tea and 2lb of chocolate creams. I was invited to eat as many of the chocolates as I liked, because his aunt who worked in the place where they were made would soon be sending more.
He said that Elliott was one of several riders asked to strip for examination by the soigneur Raymond Le Bert, who normally worked for Louison Bobet
Louison Bobet
Louis 'Louison' Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
. Wadley wrote:
It would be wrong to say that the company laughed when Shay stood there in his underpants, but there were certainly some smiles because in contrast to his lithe, clean-limbed predecessors at the examination, Shay looked a short, fat boy. Le Bert, however, did not smile. Immediately he exclaimed: 'Ah ha, now this is really rock. He is a real flahute. (Flahute is a favourite French way of describing the old-type tough Flemish roadman.)
Elliott did not return permanently to Ireland at the end of the training camp. He had just finished six years as an apprentice sheet-metal worker and he and his family in Old County Road in Crumlin, Dublin, had decided that he had mastered panel-beating and would have a trade to return to if his efforts to become a professional cyclist failed. He contacted a former French professional, Francis Pélissier
Francis Pélissier
Francis Pélissier was a French professional road racing cyclist from Paris. He was the younger brother of Tour de France winner Henri Pélissier, and the older brother of Tour de France stage winner Charles Pélissier. He won several classic cycle races like Paris–Tours, Bordeaux–Paris and Grand...
, for advice. Pélissier told Elliott to compete in as many races as possible, at least three or four a week - possibly in France, but not in Ireland, a cycling backwater. Elliott planned to move to Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where he could race several times a week and, as an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
, win money denied to him in Ireland. At the training camp, however, he met the journalist and race organiser Jean Leulliot who told him he would burn himself out in round-the-houses racing. He urged him to move to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Leulliot remembered how Elliott had won the Tourmalet stage of the 1954 Route de France, which Leulliot's paper, Route et Piste, organised. Leulliot asked in his paper for someone to accommodate Elliott in the capital and added "The Irishman is soaked with class and has a great future before him."
The appeal was answered by Paul "Mickey" Wiegant of the Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France's top amateur team. Elliott won five one-day amateur classics in 1955 and set the world 10 km amateur record on the Vélodrome d'Hiver
Vélodrome d'hiver
The Vélodrome d'Hiver , colloquially Vel' d'Hiv, was an indoor bicycle racing cycle track and stadium on rue Nélaton, not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. As well as track cycling, it was used for ice hockey, wrestling, boxing, roller-skating, circuses, spectaculars, and demonstrations...
in Paris. He became a professional for the 1956 season.
Professional career
Elliott turned professional for the Helyett-Félix Potin team. Helyett was a bicycle factory. He won his first race, the GP d'Echo Alger in AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, outsprinting André Darrigade
André Darrigade
André Darrigade was a French professional road bicycle racer between 1951 and 1966. Darrigade, a road sprinter won the 1959 World Championship and 22 stages of the Tour de France. Five of those were on the first day. The record has never been equalled.-Origins:André Darrigade was born at Narosse,...
. He also won the GP Catox and the GP Isbergues. In his first major race of 1957, the Omloop "Het Volk" in Belgium, he made a race-long break with Englishman Brian Robinson. The break was caught near the finish but Elliott's form was noted. He won the Circuit de la Vienne.
He became a team-mate of Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
and Jean Stablinski
Jean Stablinski
Jean Stablewski, known as Jean Stablinski was a French professional cyclist from a family of Polish immigrants. He rode from 1952 to 1968, winning 105 races as a professional...
, staying with the team under different sponsors for much of his career.
In 1959 he won Omloop "Het Volk", the first foreigner to succeed. He attacked on the Mur de Grammont with 30 km to ride and dropped all his rivals except Fred De Bruyne
Fred De Bruyne
Alfred De Bruyne was a Belgian champion cyclist.He won Milan – San Remo and Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 1956, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Tours in 1957, and again Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 1958 and 1959....
, the Belgian hope. The pair raced together to the finish where Elliott won easily. That season Elliott rode the Tour de France, then run for national teams, in a mixed team that included the Englishman, Brian Robinson. Robinson rode above his level across the Massif Central
Massif Central
The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....
and next day paid the price. He trailed far behind the field.
William Fotheringham wrote:
In hot weather, these are some of the toughest roads in France, constantly rising and falling. Elliott remained with Robinson, chivvying him, pacing him, pouring water on his head as the Tour's doctor, Pierre DumasPierre DumasPierre Dumas was a French doctor who pioneered drug tests in the Olympic Games and cycling. He was doctor of the Tour de France from 1952 to 1969 and head of drug-testing at the race until 1977.-Background:...
administered glucose tablets. It was the kind of heroic spectacle the Tour reporters loved. Robinson en perdition ran the next day's headline in L'ÉquipeL'ÉquipeL'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
, which described Elliott's efforts as "attentions de mère poule" - the solicitousness of a mother hen.
Both finished outside the time limit and expected to be sent home. But the team's manager, Sauveur Ducazeaux, insisted the judges apply a rule that no rider in the first ten could be eliminated. Robinson had started the day ninth: it was Elliott who was sent home. "The mother hen was cooked; the chick avoided the pot", Fotheringham said.
In 1962 Elliott came third in the 1962 Vuelta a España
1962 Vuelta a España
The 1962 Vuelta a España was the 17th Vuelta a España, taking place from April 27 to May 13, 1962. It consisted of 17 stages over 2806 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.684 km/h....
, winning the fourth stage and coming second in the points classification. He led the race for nine days.
In the 1962 world road championship at Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, he got into the winning break with Stablinski. Stablinksi was a team-mate in the professional peloton but a rival in the championship, where riders rode in national teams. However, Elliott and Stablinksi worked to wear down the other break members. When Stablinksi attacked, Elliott refused to chase and the Frenchman won alone. Elliott eventually broke away to take the silver medal. Elliott admitted he had sacrificed his chance for Stablinski's benefit.
"Team loyalty was a theme that ran throughout Elliott's career," noted the editor of Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
Martin Ayres.
Elliott said: "I'm not supposed to say that I helped Jean, but he's the best friend I've got in cycling and godfather to my son, Pascal. So I couldn't very well go after him, could I?"
Elliott's best result was in the 1963 Tour de France
1963 Tour de France
The 1963 Tour de France was the 50th Tour de France, taking place June 23 to July 14, 1963. The total race distance was 21 stages over 4137 km, with riders averaging 37.092 km/h...
. There the pair's roles were reversed. Both men broke clear in a 12-man group on the third stage, to Roubaix
Roubaix
Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...
. Neither tried to improve the breakaway group's lead because their leader, Anquetil, was in the main field. The breakaway lasted 150 km, however, and the lead grew to nine minutes. When Elliott twice punctured, Stablinksi controlled the break to allow him to regain his place. With no chance left for Anquetil to catch the leaders or to reduce his disadvantage, Elliott and Stablinski were freed to follow their own tactics. Stablinski led the group on to a cycle path beside one of the cobbled roads for which the area was known. The only rider not to follow was Elliott, he and Stablinski calculating that the others would find it hard to get off the cycle path once then were on it. Elliott sprinted away on the cobbles with six kilometres to the finish in the velodrome in Roubaix
Roubaix
Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...
. He won by 33 seconds, enough to give him the yellow jersey
Yellow jersey
The general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...
of leadership. He held it for three days. Another 20 years passed before another Irishman, Sean Kelly
Seán Kelly (cyclist)
John James 'Sean' Kelly is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer. He was 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...
, led the Tour.
Elliott spent his career as a domestique a rider who sacrifices his chances for his leader, but with the right to sprint for wins. He made a career from appearance contracts and start money, riding criteriums in Belgium - the races that Leulliot said would burn him out - and races in Britain, including a meeting at the velodrome at Herne Hill
Herne Hill
Herne Hill is located in the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London. There is a road of the same name which continues the A215 north of Norwood Road and was called Herne Hill Road.-History:...
in London where the star attraction was the Italian, Fausto Coppi
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...
. Elliott also rode and won the professional race on the Isle of Man, the Manx Premier.
Elliott was contracted to ride London-Holyhead in 1965, at 275 miles the longest single-day race in the world not to use pacers. Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson was the most successful English road racing cyclist of the post-war years. He infamously died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the Tour de France in 1967...
won, beating Elliott and a domestic professional, Albert Hitchen. Controversy started the moment that Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
printed a picture of the sprint. Elliott had his hands tugging his brakes before the line. The magazine suggested he was braking to avoid the crowd further down the road. But many thought it a fix. Elliott later wrote a newspaper article admitting that he made more money by selling races than winning them.
Another rider in the race, a domestic semi-professional called Pete Ryalls, said in Procycling
Procycling
Procycling, or ProCycling, is a bicycling sport magazine owned by Future Publishing. First published in April 1999, there are 13 issues a year distributed in all countries where there are English speaking readers....
in 2008:
The fix was for Barry HobanBarry HobanBarry Hoban is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the previous holder of the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 to 1975...
to win. Barry was touch and go whether he'd get another contract because he'd done sweet FA all season. And it all went wrong because he didn't have the form anyway and it's a bloody long way if you don't have the legs. And the thing that messed it up was that going across AngleseyAngleseyAnglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
a big tall lanky guy called Peter Gordon. He pushed off and caused all sorts of consternation and the only people who could get across to him were Simpson and the guys he'd brought across with him, and Hitchen... so presumably they sorted it out between them afterwards, but that was the fix: that Hoban should win. I know for certain that it was.
Elliott, braking to stop Hitchen behind him, so Simpson could win, was riding in Simpson's pay. Simpson had already offered Elliott £1,000 to help him win the world championship in 1963. Elliott had refused, speculation being that he had been offered more by someone else.
Decline
Elliott's career started to fade from the mid-1960s. He moved in 1966 from Anquetil's team to the rival Mercier-BP, sponsored by a bicycle company and an oil company and led by Anquetil's rival, Raymond PoulidorRaymond Poulidor
Raymond Poulidor , is a former professional bicycle racer. He was known as the eternal second, because he finished the Tour de France in second place three times, and in third place five times, including his final Tour at the age of 40...
. Elliott planned for retirement by opening a hotel in Loctudy in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. That took so much of his time that he could ride only local races. After promising Mercier-BP that he would make amends in the world championship, the chain came off his bicycle and he finished 15th.
Things grew worse. His marriage to Stablinski's sister, Marguerite, failed. The hotel, too, failed and Elliott lost all his money. To make amends, he sold a story to the British newspaper, The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
, telling of drug-taking and bribery. The article went into few details but was enough for him to be snubbed by other professionals. The same had happened to Simpson when he sold his story to the same paper. But while Simpson recovered despite reprimands from his agent, criticism in the cycling press and a threat of dismissal by his team, Elliott's career never regained momentum.
Jock Wadley, who had shared a room with Elliott at the Simplex training camp, said: "I knew times were hard for him but nobody knew just how hard until he had to do that."
Retirement
Elliott returned to Dublin in 1967 and set up a metal-working business with his father. Two years later Marguerite returned to France, with his only son Pascal. Elliott tried a racing comeback in Britain in 1970 with the Falcon CyclesFalcon Cycles
Falcon Cycles is an English bicycle manufacturer based in Brigg, North Lincolnshire. The company can trace its history back over 125 years.In addition to producing bikes under its own name, Falcon produces bicycles under several brand names including Falcon, British Eagle, Coventry Eagle, Townsend,...
team and came 21st in his first race, London-Holyhead. Domestic professional racing was not as attractive or rewarding as continental. Combining cycling with a full-time job meant he struggled. Despite problems, he continued to ride, train juniors and formulate plans for Irish cycling.
On 21 April 1971 his father James "Jim" Elliott died. Two days after his father's funeral, on May 4, 1971, Elliott was found dead in the living quarters above the family business premises. The cause of death was from a shotgun wound. He was laid to rest alongside his father at St Mochonogs Church, Kilmacanogue near Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
Memorials
The Shay Elliott Memorial Road RaceShay Elliott Memorial Race
The Shay Elliot Memorial race is a one day race held in Spring in Ireland. It is run in honour of former Irish professional cyclist Seamus Shay Elliot. The race was previously known as the Route de Chill Mhantain. It became the Shay Elliott Trophy in the late sixties, then the Shay Elliott Memorial...
is run every year in Ireland in his honour. The race was previously known as the Route de Chill Mhantain (Circuit of Wicklow). It became the Shay Elliott Trophy in the late sixties, then the Shay Elliott Memorial after his death in 1971. The race is still the most prestigious Irish one-day event after the national championship.
A monument to Elliott erected by friends stands at the top of the climb from Drumgoff Bridge, Glenmalure heading towards Laragh
Laragh, County Wicklow
Laragh is a small picturesque village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies at the junction of three roads through the Wicklow Mountains and is primarily known for its proximity to the monastic settlement of Glendalough...
in County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Major results
1953- Irish amateur road champion
1954
Irish National Road Race ChampionshipsIrish National Cycling Championships
The Irish National Cycling Championships are annual cycling races to decide the Irish cycling champion for several disciplines, across several categories of rider....
(CN)
1955
Irish National Road Race ChampionshipsIrish National Cycling Championships
The Irish National Cycling Championships are annual cycling races to decide the Irish cycling champion for several disciplines, across several categories of rider....
(CN)
1956
- 1st GP d'Isbergues
1957
- 1st Semaine Bretonne
- 1st Circuit de la Vienne
- 3rd Paris–Bourges
- 1st points classification Paris–Nice
1958
- 1st GP Sigrand
- 2nd GP de Nice
- 2nd Tour de PicardieTour de PicardieThe Tour de Picardie is a professional multi-stage cycle road race held annually in Picardy, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- 1st points classification and 2 stages Four Days of DunkirkFour Days of DunkirkThe Four Days of Dunkirk is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Confusingly, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has usually been held over a 5 or 6 day period. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe...
1959
- 1st Omloop "Het Volk"
- 1st GP de Denain
- 1st GP de Nice
- 1st Manx TrophyManx TrophyThe Manx Trophy or Isle of Man International Road Race is a bicycle road race run annually on the Isle of Man. In the 1960s the race attracted the world's top professional cyclists including Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx....
1960
- 1st Trophée Peugeot (Rennes-Brest)
- 1st Stage 3a GP Ciclomotoristico
- 2nd Circuit de l'Indre
- 2nd Nice-Genoa
- 1st Stage 18 Giro d'ItaliaGiro d'ItaliaThe Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
(Grand Tour)
1961
- 1st stage 2 Four Days of DunkirkFour Days of DunkirkThe Four Days of Dunkirk is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Confusingly, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has usually been held over a 5 or 6 day period. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe...
1962
- 2nd World Championship Elite Road Race
- 2nd Circuit de la Vienne
- 2nd Paris–Camembert
- 2nd GP du Vercors
- 3rd overall, Vuelta a España1962 Vuelta a EspañaThe 1962 Vuelta a España was the 17th Vuelta a España, taking place from April 27 to May 13, 1962. It consisted of 17 stages over 2806 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.684 km/h....
(Grand Tour)- 1st Stage 4
- 2nd overall on points classification
- held the leaders gold jersey for 9 stages
- 3rd Circuit Mandel-Lys-Escaut
- 3rd GP d'Orchies
1963
- 1st GP de Vayrac
- 2nd Paris–Camembert
- 2nd Tour de l'Oise
- 1st Stage 13 Vuelta a España1963 Vuelta a EspañaThe 18th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from May 1 to May 15, 1963. It consisted of 15 stages covering a total of , and was won by Jacques Anquetil of the St. Raphael-Gitane cycling team...
(Grand Tour) - 1st Stage 3 Tour de FranceTour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
(Grand Tour)- held leaders yellow jersey for 3 stages
1964
- 1st Manx TrophyManx TrophyThe Manx Trophy or Isle of Man International Road Race is a bicycle road race run annually on the Isle of Man. In the 1960s the race attracted the world's top professional cyclists including Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx....
1965
- 1st Tour de l'Oise (1st stage 1)
- 1st GP de Saint-Raphaël
- 1st GP d'Espéraza
- 1st GP d'Orchies
- 2nd London-Holyhead
1966
- 1st GP du Trégor