John Atkins (cyclist)

Last updated

John Atkins
Personal information
Full nameJohn Atkins
Born (1942-04-07) 7 April 1942 (age 81)
Flag of England.svg  England
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Team information
DisciplineCyclo-cross
RoleRider
Amateur team
Professional teams
1968Marsh and Baxter
1969Carlton - Truwel
1970Fred Baker
19711972TI -Carlton
19731975TI - Raleigh
19751979Viscount - Shimano
19781979Harry Quinn - Galli

John Atkins (born 7 April 1942 [1] ), is a British former racing cyclist specialising in cyclo-cross, and 12 times national cyclo-cross champion. He was a professional cyclist between 1968 and 1979.

Contents

Biography

Atkins was born in Coventry, the son of Edith and Roland (Ron) Atkins. His mother was a prolific breaker of long-distance cycling records in the 1950s.

John Atkins began cycling on the cleared areas and bomb sites that followed intensive bombing of Coventry in the Second World War. He started racing at 17.

He won his first national cyclo-cross championship in 1961 when he was 19. He was in a group of four and passed them by taking a longer route to the right around bushes where the others had ridden to the left. [2] It gave him a few seconds' lead that he held to the finish.

He won again in 1962 but was handicapped until 1966 by a stomach ulcer. He dominated cyclo-cross in Britain for the next 10 years.

He came fifth in the 1968 world championship, then turned professional for a sausage-maker, Marsh & Baxter. A year later he moved to Carlton Cycles for five years. He rode for Viscount-Shimano from 1975 to 1978 and then for Harry Quinn Cycles. He retired in 1979.

Atkins founded John Atkins Cycles in Coventry, now known as Coventry Cycle Centre. [3] [4] After retiring from professional cycling, Atkins ran a cycle and toy shop in Pwllheli on the Llŷn Peninsula.

Palmarès

1961
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1962
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1963
2nd British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1966
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1967
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1968
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1969
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1st Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross
1970
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1st Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross
1971
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1972
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1973
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1974
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1975
2nd British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1976
2nd British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1st Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross
1977
1st Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British National Cyclo-cross Championships
1978
2nd British National Cyclo-cross Championships

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger De Vlaeminck</span> Belgian cyclist

Roger De Vlaeminck is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed "The Gypsy" because he was born into a family of traveling clothiers, he is known for exploits in the cobbled classic Paris–Roubaix race, but his performances in other "Monument" races gave him a record that few can match. His record in Paris–Roubaix earned him another nickname, "Monsieur Paris–Roubaix".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Hoban</span> English cyclist

Barry Hoban is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 and 1975. He holds the record for the most Tours completed by a British rider – having finished 11 of the 12 he started between 1965 and 1978. He was also the first Briton to win two consecutive stages of the Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik De Vlaeminck</span> Belgian cyclist

Erik De Vlaeminck was a Belgian cyclist who became cyclo-cross world-champion seven times, a record for male riders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gadret</span> French cyclist

John Gadret is a French former professional racing cyclist in cyclo-cross and road racing, currently racing for the USO Bruay-la-Buissière amateur team. He became a stagiaire for Cofidis in 2003 before turning professional with the Vlaanderen–T Interim team in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolf Wolfshohl</span> German cyclist

Rolf Wolfshohl is a former professional road bicycle racing and cyclo-cross racing cyclist from Germany. Wolfshohl is best known in cyclo-cross for winning the world championship three times, and in road racing for winning the 1965 Vuelta a España. He won the German National Road Race in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot (cycling team)</span> French professional cycling team (1901–1986)

Peugeot team was a French professional cycling team that promoted and rode Peugeot racing bikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Peeters</span> Belgian racing cyclist

Rob Peeters is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist, who primarily competed in the cyclo-cross discipline of the sport. In January 2012, he finished second at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. He also competed in road bicycle racing, winning the mountains classification at the 2015 Ster ZLM Toer.

Christian Heule is a Swiss professional racing cyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florian Vogel (cyclist)</span> Swiss cyclist

Florian Vogel is a Swiss professional racing cyclist. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clément Lhotellerie</span> French cyclist

Clément Lhotellerie is a French former professional road racing cyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Herety</span> Road racing cyclist (born 1958)

John P Herety is a former English racing cyclist. He rode for Great Britain in the Olympic Games and won the national road championship as a professional. He is currently manager of the JLT–Condor cycling team, and occasionally provides studio-based analysis of cycle races for British Eurosport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel McLay</span> British road cyclist

Daniel "Dan" McLay is a British racing cyclist, competing in road, track and cyclo-cross, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Arkéa–Samsic. His first season as a professional was 2015, racing for French pro-continental and 2014 Tour de France wildcard outfit Bretagne–Séché Environnement. Primarily a sprinter, McLay is also competent in the Flemish racing scene and has a particular affinity to the Northern Classics. He was named in the start list for the 2016 Tour de France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Wright (cyclist)</span>

Paul Wright is an English professional racing cyclist, specialising in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing. He was a member of the Ace Racing Team for cyclo-cross, nationally and internationally from 1995 until 2002. He also raced to Pro-Elite level in mountain bike racing winning numerous titles in cross-country events. He currently races on the road events nationally and internationally to UCI 2.2 level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Gould</span>

Tim Gould is an English former professional racing cyclist specialising in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing.

Paul Watson is a former professional English road racing cyclist from Milton Keynes. He was national road race champion, raced in the Tour de France and made headlines finishing 6th in the Belgium classic La Flèche Wallonne.

Mick Ives is an English former professional racing cyclist from Coventry. Ives has been the UCI World Masters Cycling Champion five times, and the British national cycling champion 62 times. He was at one time the manager of the Great Britain cycling team, and the National Coach, and is the winner of over 1000 races.

Ventura Díaz is a Spanish former road cyclist, who competed professionally from 1961 to 1976. He competed in the individual road race at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also rode in thirteen editions of the Vuelta a España, finishing 9th in 1974, as well as two of the Tour de France and one Giro d'Italia. His biggest wins were the 1970 Vuelta a los Valles Mineros and the 1970 Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana.

Marc Janssens is a Belgian former cyclo-cross cyclist.

José Luis Talamillo Huidobro was a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional from 1957 until 1965.

Roger De Clercq was a Belgian racing cyclist. Professional from 1954 to 1968, he won 68 races in his career; including the Belgian National Cyclo-cross Championships three times, in 1960, 1962 and 1964, and a silver medal at the 1964 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. He was the brother of René De Clercq and the uncle of Mario De Clercq, also professional cyclists.

References

  1. "Profile". The Cycling Website. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  2. "Coventry - John's Results". Ride Coventry. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  3. "Coventry Cycle Centre". Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2008.
  4. "John Atkins Cycles". Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2008.