Paul Kimmage

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Paul Kimmage (born May 7, 1962 in Dublin, Ireland) is an award-winning sports journalist who writes for the Sunday Times newspaper in the United Kingdom and is a former professional cyclist.

Born into a famous Irish cycling family, Kimmage was a successful amateur cyclist in Ireland and later for the French ACBB team and the Belgium CC Wasquel amateur team. In 1986 he joined the professional French RMO team under directeur sportif Bernard Thévenet. During his time in the peloton he was a sometime sports journalist, writing occasional pieces published in Irish newspapers, with interest in the sport at a high point due to the success in the peloton of his fellow countrymen Stephen Roche and Seán Kelly (cyclist). As a rider who struggled with injury and had no professional wins, he became disillusioned with the sport and in 1989 he became a full time journalist.

In May 1990, Kimmage published the book, Rough Ride, detailing his experiences as a lowly domestique in the professional peloton, which included references to near endemic performance-enhancing drug usage. On publication, Kimmage was vilified within his former profession as having "spat in the soup," and within Ireland for having slurred the reputation of sports heroes Kelly and Roche. Roche responded with particular anger and threat of litigation, though Kimmage had never actually named him (or Kelly) among those he had seen doping.

Rough Ride won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in its year of publication.

Preceded by Dan Topolski & Patrick Robinson

William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner 1990

Succeeded by Thomas Hauser