A tour de force team effort won the stages for Ireland

AT McQUAID was the guy who got the ball rolling. Two years ago at an Ireland v France rugby match in Dublin there was a dinner organised in Tony O'Reilly's house. Jean Marie Leblanc, the director of the Tour de France, was coming over for the weekend to make a presentation to Sean Kelly and myself.

It was an award from the International Race Federation for contributions to the sport. I'd got it in 1993 when I retired and Sean won it in 1994 when he retired, but for a number of reasons we had not been available for the presentation.

So Pat got him over and invited him to the dinner, which was a very important French Irish occasion. After dinner, the Minister for Tourism, Enda Kenny, along with Jean Marie, Pat and I were having a few drinks and Pat mentioned about the tour coming here. Then the Minister asked whether it would be possible. Jean Marie said: "If you show me it is possible, then it is possible."

We said OK, we'll go for it. We put down a proposal and sent it off. After a while, we had got no word back, so Pat asked me would I talk to Jean Marie in Paris. I said yes, and called him.

He said: "Well Stephen, the problem is that the time we spoke in Ireland, we all had a few drinks. I said yes because I was being polite. I didn't really think it was possible for Tour de France to go to Ireland. But now you've put down a proposal, and it tells me that Ireland is a genuine contender. Now I'll have to discuss it with my superiors."

It went on from there, with discussions with Enda Kenny, Bord Failte and others. I don't think that at the beginning people knew the size of the Tour de France - 3,500 people every day for 24 days, 500 countries watching, 200 cyclists, 200 teams officials etc.

Pat played a big part in the administration, whereas my role was, I suppose, to keep the candle lighting and to convince people of it. Denmark had come along and put money on the table. They would have paid any price. We didn't know that when we were looking for the £2 million and trying to convince people that it was a good thing.

IT WAS different dealing with a government rather than a company. When you deal with a company you know they are going to want to spend a pound to get two back. But we were dealing with £2 million of taxpayers' money and things moved slowly. We felt, however, that compared with other big international sports events, the Tour represented very good value.

There were other countries which bid for it. Italy and Denmark were two. But with the soccer World Cup in France next summer I think they had to look at the possibility of those countries getting to the final at the same time as the prologue was being run. Imagine having the Tour starting in Denmark at the same time as, say, Denmark were playing in the World Cup finals. In that respect, Ireland was less of, a risk.

There was also the fact that Jean Marie Leblanc likes Ireland a lot. He came here on the quiet two years ago for a two week holiday in Waterville with his wife. He loves the country. We've always got on well with him, myself and Sean and Pat, and we've kept in touch over the years.

I also think that our contribution to the Tour was a factor. Over a 10 year period, Sean won five stages and was fourth overall. I won three stages, won it overall and was third overall, and Martin Early also won a stage. So we've all made a contribution.

There's no doubt that it has changed over 10 years. It's more glamorous and has got much bigger. It employs around 46 people full time and there's a lot more money in it. When I won in 1987 I got £20,000. The Tour de France is now worth £210,000. It has become one of the most important sports events in the world.

My feeling is it will also become an important vehicle for tourism. England is joined to Europe now by the Channel Tunnel, but still Ireland is seen as an island off Europe. What better way to say to the rest of the world that Ireland is very much part of Europe? Why not show people that you can finish a stage of the Tour de France on a Monday at 4 p.m. in Ireland and have everything set up to go the next day in France at 11.00 a.m.?

SPONSORS and TV revolve around it. In 1987 we would have had one or two hour slots on television and on one day maybe four hours. Now we have four hours each day. We have big names such as Credit Lyonnais, Coca Cola Nike. They see it as money justifiably spent.

Ten years ago we never could have imagined that the Tour would come here. Last week, JeanMarie and I reminisced about the time I went to visit him in 1980 when I was doing well as an amateur. He was working as a journalist with the French sports paper L'Equipe, which partly owns the Tour. We were saying how we could never have seen the Tour de France coming to Ireland - and for that matter we could never have envisaged me winning it.

But now cycling has a chance again. I think it missed out in Ireland when Sean and I were doing well. The structures weren't in place to cope with the upsurge in interest in cycling in the 1980s. Nobody realised then that it was an ideal time to capitalise on our success - there were lots of kids around who were interested.

But the Federation of Irish Cyclists wasn't really ready to hold on to them and keep them on their bikes. Then, when Sean and I were finished there were not many underage cyclists coming through. With the prospect of the Tour there will be a lot of hype and glamour and when it arrives I hope the federation will be able to capitalise on it.

It's important that we go abroad to ride internationally, to bring riders on. But you can't go out and ride in just any race. You go out and ride selected races.

I believe there were riders who were potentially very good, but I don't think they were given the right direction. I've seen young, lads who were good come over to Belgium or France. But they were good as individuals, not as team riders. They weren't given the direction about where to go, how to prepare, what club and which races to ride in. You get one shot to be a professional, two shots, maybe, if you're lucky.

I think if the cycling federation don't maximise interest now and do something, they are going to look very stupid. It's not very often you get a second chance. If you have to wait until the Tour comes, it's gone. You have to capitalise on it now.