CYCLISTS from Ireland

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Irish Cyclists of all time. This list of famous Irish Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Sean Kelly (1956 - )

With an HPI of 48.59, Sean Kelly is the most famous Irish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

John James 'Sean' Kelly (born 24 May 1956) 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. 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. Kelly twice won bronze medals (1982, 1989) in the Road World Championships Elite Men's Road Race and finished fifth in 1987, the year compatriot Stephen Roche won gold. When the FICP rankings became established in March 1984, Kelly was the first cyclist to be ranked World No.1, a position he held for a record five consecutive years. In the 1984 season, Kelly achieved 33 victories.

2. Stephen Roche (1959 - )

With an HPI of 44.31, Stephen Roche is the 2nd most famous Irish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia general classification, plus the World road race championship, the first being Eddy Merckx. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly. Although one of the finest cyclists of his generation and admired for his pedalling style, he struggled with knee injuries and never contended in the Grand Tours post-1987. He had 58 professional career wins. All of these wins still stand, despite Roche having been accused by an Italian judge of taking EPO in the later part of his career.

3. Philip Deignan (1983 - )

With an HPI of 28.04, Philip Deignan is the 3rd most famous Irish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Philip Deignan (Irish: Pilib Ó Duígeannáin; born 7 September 1983) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the Ag2r–La Mondiale, Cervélo TestTeam, Team RadioShack, UnitedHealthcare and Team Sky squads. A former Olympian, Deignan won a stage in the 2009 Vuelta a España, and finished in the top ten in the general classification.

4. Christopher Juul-Jensen (1989 - )

With an HPI of 27.26, Christopher Juul-Jensen is the 4th most famous Irish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Christopher Juul-Jensen (born 6 July 1989) is a Danish racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. Juul-Jensen grew up in Ireland, living in County Wicklow until the age of 16. He became the Danish national time trial champion in 2015. In August 2015 Orica–GreenEDGE announced that they had signed Juul-Jensen on an initial two-year contract from 2016. He was named in the start list for the 2016 Tour de France.