Thomas Simpson was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
The 1988 Tour de France was the 75th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 24 July. It consisted of 22 stages over 3,286 km (2,042 mi). The race was won by Pedro Delgado with the top three positions at the end of the race being occupied by specialist climbers. This Tour was nearly 1,000km shorter than the previous few editions, which were over 4,000km, but by no means easier as it included five consecutive mountain stages including a mountain time trial.
The 1983 Tour de France was the 70th edition of the Tour de France, run from 1 to 24 July, with 22 stages and a prologue covering a total distance of 3,809 km (2,367 mi) The race was won by French rider Laurent Fignon. Sean Kelly of Ireland won the points classification, and Lucien Van Impe of Belgium won the mountains classification.
The 1962 Tour de France was the 49th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 4,274-kilometre (2,656 mi) race consisted of 22 stages, including two split stages, starting in Nancy on 24 June and finishing at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 15 July. There were four time trial stages and no rest days. After more than 30 years, the Tour was again contested by trade teams instead of national teams. Jacques Anquetil of the Saint-Raphaël–Helyett–Hutchinson team won the overall general classification, defending his title to win his third Tour de France. Jef Planckaert (Flandria–Faema–Clément) placed second, 4 min 59 s in arrears, and Raymond Poulidor (Mercier–BP–Hutchinson) was third, over ten minutes behind Anquetil.
The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,608-kilometre (2,242 mi) race consisted of 22 stages, including three split stages, starting in Mulhouse on 26 June and finishing at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris on 18 July. There were three time trial stages and two rest days. Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team won the overall general classification, defending his title to win his third Tour de France in a row. Joop Zoetemelk (Flandria–Mars) finished second, 9:51 minutes behind, and Lucien Van Impe was third (Sonolor–Lejeune), just over 11 minutes in arrears.
The 1970 Tour de France was the 57th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 19 July, with 23 stages covering a distance of 4,254 km (2,643 mi). It was the second victory for Belgian Eddy Merckx, who also won the mountains classification, and nearly won every major jersey for a 2nd year in a row but finished second in the points classification behind Walter Godefroot by five points. The previous year only one rider was able to keep him within 20:00 and in 1970 a mere four other riders were within 20:00, with only debutant Joop Zoetemelk finishing inside 15:00 of Merckx.
The 1968 Tour de France was the 55th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 21 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,492 km (2,791 mi). Eleven national teams of 10 riders competed, with three French teams, two Belgian teams and one from Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and a combined Swiss/Luxembourgian team.
The 1973 Amstel Gold Race was the eighth edition of the annual road bicycle race "Amstel Gold Race", held on Sunday April 7, 1973, in the Dutch provinces of Limburg. The race stretched 238 kilometres, with the start in Heerlen and the finish in Meerssen. There were a total of 165 competitors, and 28 cyclists finished the race.
Sporting Cyclist was a British cycling A4-sized magazine originally called Coureur. It began in 1955 and ended after 131 issues in April 1968.
William Fotheringham is a sports writer specialising in cycling and rugby. As a newspaper journalist he writes for The Guardian. Fotheringham was a features editor for Cycling Weekly, the features editor of Cycle Sport and co-founder of Procycling magazine. He is a current writer for procycling Magazine.
John Borland Wadley was an English journalist whose magazines and reporting opened Continental cycle racing to fans in Britain. Wadley covered 18 Tours de France from 1956. He worked for the British weekly, The Bicycle and then started and edited the monthlies Coureur and International Cycle Sport. He also wrote a number of books.
René de Latour was a Franco-American sports journalist, race director of the Tour de l'Avenir cycle race, and correspondent of the British magazine, Sporting Cyclist, to which he contributed to 120 of the 131 issues.
Tino Tabak is a Dutch-born New Zealand cyclist who raced in the Tour de France in the 1970s.
The 57th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 1 April 1973. Belgian Eric Leman won the classic ahead of Freddy Maertens and Eddy Merckx. The race started in Ghent and finished for the first time in Meerbeke (Ninove). 37 out of 174 riders arrived.
The 1974 Gent–Wevelgem was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Belgium on 9 April 1974. It was the 36th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race. It was won by Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson's Barry Hoban in a thirteen-rider bunch sprint.
The 1972 Liège–Bastogne–Liège was the 58th edition of the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycle race and was held on 20 April 1972. The race started and finished in Liège. The race was won by Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team.
The 1973 Gent–Wevelgem was the 35th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem cycle race and was held on 3 April 1973. The race started in Ghent and finished in Wevelgem. The race was won by Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team.
The 1973 Milan–San Remo was the 64th edition of the Milan–San Remo cycle race and was held on 19 March 1973. The race started in Milan and finished in San Remo. The race was won by Roger De Vlaeminck of the Brooklyn team.
The 1971 Giro di Lombardia was the 65th edition of the Giro di Lombardia cycle race and was held on 9 October 1971. The race started in Milan and finished in Como. The race was won by Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team.
The 1968 Paris–Roubaix was the 66th edition of the Paris–Roubaix cycle race and was held on 7 April 1968. The race started in Compiègne and finished in Roubaix. The race was won by Eddy Merckx of the Faema team.
