Sports Poets Society

https://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2017/11/3/16602968/the-ascent-sean-kelly-stephen-roche-by-barry-ryan The story of Irish cycling's golden years, from the rise of the Nouvelle Éire to the fall of Pat McQuaid By Feargal McKay ,  @fmk_RoI PODIUM CAFE, Nov 3, 2017 They were of a different kind, The names that stilled your childish play ~ Yeats The year is 1987, the place Wexford town, in the south east of Ireland. It's the last Thursday of August, the golden hour of summer, the holidays drawing to a close. Tonight, though, Wexford is happy, tonight Wexford is celebrating. Tonight, the circus is visiting: Pat McQuaid has brought his Kellogg's-sponsored city centre critérium series to the fading harbour town. And the stars of the show are the four Irish riders racing on the continent: Martin Earley and Paul Kimmage , the hard working heroes pulling for others; Sean Kelly , whose palmarès includes victories in Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix , L...

https://www.podiumcafe.com/2017/11/3/16602882/interview-stephen-roche Ireland’s Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Champion discusses his autobiography, ‘Born to Ride’ By Feargal McKay ,  @fmk_RoI ,  PODIUM CAFE, Jun 22, 2012 It’s a sunny Monday morning in Dublin and I’m sitting in the foyer of Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge . Next door is the RDS, where Lance Armstrong held his International Cancer Conference back in 2009. I’m here this morning to interview one of the men who preceded Armstrong on the Tour de France’s roll of honour: Stephen Roche. The Dubliner is back home to plug his new autobiography, Born to Ride (Yellow Jersey Press), and I’ve been squeezed in for a twenty-minute interview in between TV and radio appearances. The key to a good interview, I’ve always been told, is preparation. Know who you’re interviewing, know what you want to talk to them about and, biff bang bosh, half the job is done. I’ve spent the weekend reading Bor...