Conor Henry competed in both the 100 kilometres team time trial and the men’s road race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the only Irish cyclist to compete in both events.

His inclusion in the team time trial was historic: Henry had created cycling history earlier in the year by becoming the first Irishman ever to win the Milk Race (Tour of Britain) in 1992 – arguably the finest achievement by an Irish amateur cyclist – and his late addition to the Olympic panel allowed Ireland to field a team in the 100-kilometre team time trial on the final occasion it was included in the Olympic programme. In the team time trial, the Irish quartet of Mark Kane, Kevin Kimmage, Robert Power and Paul Slane finished 17th in 2:14:32 – almost thirteen minutes behind the winning German team. Henry, Kimmage and Slane then competed in the road race, finishing in the peloton 35 seconds behind winner Fabio Casartelli of Italy.

All three riders were prominent over the closing stages of the race and finished strongly but were hampered by a crash in the last few hundred metres. Kimmage, in 35th place, was the highest-placed Irish finisher. Their distinguished company in the peloton included a young Lance Armstrong. On 18 July 1995, Casartelli – competing in his first Tour de France on a descent in the Pyrenees – crashed headfirst into a concrete pylon without a helmet and died within minutes, one of road cycling’s most tragic losses.