Race whizzes through Carrick in tribute to a great Irish sportsman

When the Tour de France flashed through Carrick-on-Suir and Sean Kelly Square yesterday, it symbolised not just cycling's regard for one of Ireland's greatest sportsmen but the unbreakable tie Kelly has always maintained with his home and his country.

Fittingly, the Tour's visit was a contrivance that only Kelly could have pulled off. A sustained campaign by the citizens of the town and the rider himself resulted in the director of the Tour de France, Jean-Marie Leblanc, deciding that the 14-times Tour competitor should be recognised in such a way.

Yesterday was that recognition, and the town responded. With bunting, straw bales, tables pulled out on to the footpaths, and a dignitaries' stand, Carrick-On-Suir gave its cycling hero full honours.

The famous Westgate, which had initially worried the Frenchman when he first came on reconnaissance, was now a trivial matter. Because of the narrow passage and the two large stones on either side, Leblanc had been concerned about the welfare of his peloton.

But Leblanc too has always been an admirer of Kelly and when he stopped in his official car to join the Irishman for a pint of Guinness in front of the town's main stand, it was seen as a gesture of some significance.

"I was very glad to drink the Guinness in front of Sean Kelly and in front of the minister [Dr McDaid] and the people of Carrick-on-Suir," said Leblanc.

But the mood was festive, not commemorative. It was a celebration, not the burial of the cherished memories of 12 Tour finishes and countless one-day classics. Gardai, civil defence, and dignitaries all joined in the summery mood.

Kelly's mother, Nelly, and his father, Frank, were swallowed in the throng. Tony Ryan, the young Kelly's mentor, could never have foreseen the standing in which his one-time trainee was now being held.

The peloton - the great mass of bunched cyclists - wound its way through the now famous boulevards of Sean Kelly Square and O'Mahony Avenue. Past the Westgate and beyond the mark where the telegraph poles had been removed, the riders funnelled along.

Every inch of ground hummed with anticipation as the cavalcade and the riders cautiously felt their way along the narrow roads. In a flash it was all over, the tail-enders disappearing into cheering crowds further on, the memories lingering.