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Historic Overview Tom Simpson

Rider

Overall Rank232
NameTom SIMPSON
Country
  Great Britain
Date of birth30-Nov-1937 - Haswell (Durham)
Date of death13-Jul-1967 - Mont Ventoux (Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur-Fra)
ContemporiesView Contemporary Ranking

Biography

Tom Simpson

Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) 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.

In 1959, at age 21, Simpson was signed by the French professional road-racing team Saint-Raphaël–R. Geminiani–Dunlop. He advanced to their first team (Rapha–Gitane–Dunlop) the following year, and won the 1961 Tour of Flanders. Simpson then joined Gitane–Leroux–Dunlop–R. Geminiani; in the 1962 Tour de France he became the first British rider to wear the yellow jersey, finishing sixth overall.

In 1963 Simpson moved to Peugeot–BP–Englebert, winning Bordeaux–Paris that year and the 1964 Milan–San Remo. In 1965 he became Britain's first professional world road race champion and won the Giro di Lombardia; this made him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the first cyclist to win the award. Injuries hampered much of Simpson's 1966 season. He won two stages of the 1967 Vuelta a España before he won the general classification of Paris–Nice that year.

In the thirteenth stage of the 1967 Tour de France, Simpson collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. He was 29 years old. The post-mortem examination found that he had mixed amphetamines and alcohol; this diuretic combination proved fatal when combined with the heat, the hard climb of the Ventoux and a stomach complaint. A memorial near where he died has become a place of pilgrimage for many cyclists. Simpson was known to have taken performance-enhancing drugs during his career, when no doping controls existed. He is held in high esteem by many fans for his character and will to win.

source - Wikipedia

Badges

8 2 2 13

Major Victories

World Championships Road Race 1965
Milano - Sanremo 1964
Ronde van Vlaanderen 1961
Giro di Lombardia 1965
Paris - Nice 1967
Bordeaux - Paris 1963
Tour du Sud-Est 1960
Vuelta a España - stages 1967 (2)
Tour de l'Ouest - stages 1959 (2)
Tour du Sud-Est - stages 1964 (1)
Euskal Bizikleta - stages 1961 (1)
More results

Seasons

Tom Simpson - Scores by Season

Year Team Score Rank
1. 1958 Elswick Hopper 0 1426
2. 1959 Saint Raphaël - R. Geminiani - Dunlop 399 140
3. 1960 Rapha - Gitane - Dunlop 983 47
4. 1961 Rapha - Gitane - Dunlop 1223 36
5. 1962 Gitane - Leroux - Dunlop - R. Geminiani 1428 25
6. 1963 Peugeot - BP - Englebert 1958 9
7. 1964 Peugeot - BP - Englebert 1962 11
8. 1965 Peugeot - BP - Michelin 2332 7
9. 1966 Peugeot - BP - Michelin 531 87
10. 1967 Peugeot - BP - Michelin 1125 27
Overall: 11941 232