Keegan Shiable started his profesional racing career back in season 9 at the grand age of 27, Riding for the unfashionable English outfit, Team Kernow.
His first win of note came in the Division 4 classic "Critérium la Grasse", it was one of five wins that season which propelled his team up into the Zyte division and himself inside the top 100 riders for that season.
Remarkably despite this success, Shiable was offered for sale, by then Kernow manager Mr Armstrong, who was looking to cash in on his potential.
There were no offers and not long after Mr Armstrong was sent packing and replaced by the current manager Elliotone, who soon made it clear that Shiable was not only staying, but he would receive the squads full backing.
Season 11, would see the introduction of a new tour, the "Volta ao Porto" .
Labelled as Zyte divisions preimer race, ...
Read moreKeegan Shiable started his profesional racing career back in season 9 at the grand age of 27, Riding for the unfashionable English outfit, Team Kernow.
His first win of note came in the Division 4 classic "Critérium la Grasse", it was one of five wins that season which propelled his team up into the Zyte division and himself inside the top 100 riders for that season.
Remarkably despite this success, Shiable was offered for sale, by then Kernow manager Mr Armstrong, who was looking to cash in on his potential.
There were no offers and not long after Mr Armstrong was sent packing and replaced by the current manager Elliotone, who soon made it clear that Shiable was not only staying, but he would receive the squads full backing.
Season 11, would see the introduction of a new tour, the "Volta ao Porto" .
Labelled as Zyte divisions preimer race, a host of eager teams, set it as there seasons target to enter and for most it would be their first taste of a tour. Including Team Kernow and Shiable.
Initially Shiable was considured to be a rank outsider, a threat in the mountains but without the all-round ability to mount a serious challenge for the GC, but he un-expectally kept incontention during the prologue and the latter Aveiro and porto ITT's, but it was in the mountains he gave his masterclass, claiming 3 stage victories, ahead of pre-race favourates Yasunari Yamauchi, Jimmy Waller, Ian Defley and the future Germany Tour winner Vernon Kings.
After a couple more victories, that season would end with Shiable ranked 8th in the OCM and runner up in the "climber of the year award" to the mighty Elias Holmström.
After the success of the previous season, it was time for Team Kernow to compete with the "big boys" in the Top division.
Early on in the season saw a top 10 finish in Alpe d`Huez Classic, which was to set the tone for a very successful season which included Shaible finishing runner up at the World Championships and once again at the end of season awards.
Despite his success Shiable still hadn't received national recongnition or even a race win at the very highest level, in what would be a fairly mundain season (13) for the Englishman, at the very least he acheived these goals with a win in Morelia - Mexico City (#13) and as team mate for English sensation Sterling Dorsher in both Brazil and India.
By season 14 Team Kernow had assembled a formidible climbing team to back up Shiables ambitions of becoming the worlds number 1 climber, but there was to be a twist from the unlikest of places.
Travis Plowman had been Shiables number two for almost 4 seasons by now, but had become unsettled by the his own ambitions.
With high profile team CCFC showing an interest, Plowman saw the Volta as the prime time to step out of Keegans shadow and boy did he!.
Firstly the stage Viana do Castelo - Portelinha where Shaible had won before, Plowman followed eventual stage winner Darell Randel wheel where Keegan couldn't, and then again finishing 2nd to Randel on stage 7.
Despite this, due to his better Time trialling Shiable would finish the tour on the podium, but Plowman had sent a clear message and was soon rideing for CCFC as their climbing captain.
More success would come for shiable, during season 14 including wins in Italy, Norway and a superb stage win in Germany, but he often found himself being trumped by his old team mate.
Plowman would go onto stage wins in the Perm and Germany tour narrowly missing out on a overall podium finish in each, as well as becoming the world champion.
Season 15 would be a real mixture of highs and lows for Shiable
First came the superb Zurich-Bern-Zurich triumph, considured by many to be the greatest Climbing classic, Shiable went alone with over 30k to go and never looked back.
But disaster was around the corner, when heading for a top 10 finish overall in the Germany Tour, he clipped a team mates wheel and finished the stage in hospital. But you cannot keep a good rider down, he soon recovered to a 3rd place in the WC and once again finish as a runner up at the end of season Climber of the year awards.
Shiables final full season would be season 16. In which he narrowly missed out of reclaiming the Zurich-Bern-Zurich, finishing 2nd to Gradient Levellers Spanard, Miguel Pinto.
The Criterium La Provence the third of the Big Climbing Classics, saw Shiable once again pipped into runners up spot, this time by Lloyd Vonk.
Shiable was once again nominated.
Another nasty crash, this time during a world tour race had played heavily of Shiable mind and at 08:35 on 6/4-2011 he announced, he would be retiring, but there was to be one last twist.
The Alpe d Huez Classic, had been won by Shiables great rivals Holmstrum, Dorsher and Dirk Herman, but at 37, Shiable was seen as past it, he had crumbled in previous seasons, only once finishing inside the top 10.
But with the likes of team mates, Finnel, Roesems, Rahbek, Curt and Flater dictating an exhausting tempo at the front, nobody to could maintain a attack and once Shiable was left with only Valkenaers and Holt as company, he kicked out, using his suprior sprinting quality, to claiming possibly his finest win.
Keegan Shiable holds the record as the most nominated rider never to win an award, and also the oldest man to win a classic at 37 years old, he currently sits 4th in the all-time list for race results with 62, 30 of which were wins.
He finished the season as Englands top rider twice and represented his country on 21 occasions, mainly as a team mate to the great Sterling Dorscher, his best result was a 4th place at the CoN Rio de Janeiro (5), during Englands successful and to date only winning CoN season (season 14).
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