Sam Bennett became the sixth Irish rider to win a stage on the Tour de France on Tuesday and Ronan O'Gara had a front row seat for the moment of history.
The Carrick-on-Suir rider won the 10th stage, pipping Caleb Ewan in a sprint into Saint-Martin-de-Ré. It follows a number of near misses for Bennett on this year's Tour, and sees him claim the sprinters' green jersey from Peter Sagan.
"The route literally passed by our house," O'Gara told Off The Ball.
"We were on the wall outside, had the Irish flag around the neck, goose pimples, just unbelievable."
"I think maybe when you leave Ireland you become even prouder." | 🇮🇪@RonanOGara10 had a front row seat for @Sammmy_Be's big victory.
Listen in full : https://t.co/35x89WUTnh pic.twitter.com/WQAEITJu6q— Off The Ball (@offtheball) September 8, 2020
O'Gara
O'Gara explained that his house in Île de Ré is situated about seven kilometres from the stage's finish line.
"They flew past and then we went back inside to the TV to watch the finish," he said.
"It was a great day, I felt incredibly proud watching it. I think when you leave Ireland you become even prouder if that’s possible.
"I’m obviously not that into cycling but I grew up in the era of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche."
🎬 Relive the final kilometre of today's stage and 🇮🇪 Irishman @Sammmy_Be's sprint win!
🎬 Revivez le dernier kilomètre de l'étape d'aujourd'hui avec la victoire de 🇮🇪 l'irlandais @Sammmy_Be#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/9MmOy1n28n— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 8, 2020
When O'Gara spoke to Off The Ball he was on his way to join in on the celebrations.
"I’m actually driving down to the finish line now because there’s a few aperitifs tonight so I got the name on the list," he said.
"I’m opening myself up for some slagging here but it’s worth it. We’re trying to find our way to the finish line here but struggling."
It won't be a late night though for O'Gara though as he has "training in the morning and a big game at the weekend."
"I have to be sharp, pretend to be anyway. It was just a great occasion, also got a lot of good texts from the boys on the team which was nice."
