Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson
Little more needs to be added to the legend of Tom Simpson, one of the most iconic British riders in cycling history.
World champion in 1965, the first Brit to pull on the rainbow jersey, Simpson was also the first of his countrymen to wear the maillot jaune at the Tour de France and boasts three Monument victories to his name.
His Tour of Flanders victory in 1961 is still the only British win at the Ronde, and he also went on to win Milan-San Remo (1964) and the Giro di Lombardia (1965).
The latter came in the same year he won the world road race title in San Sebastian, while he also boasts Paris-Nice victory and two stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana to his name.
Simpson also won the now-defunct Bordeaux-Paris in 1963, when he attacked 90km from the finish of the 563km motor-paced epic to win in the Parc des Princes.
Simpson’s death, too, is as well-known as his achievements on the road – the County Durham-born rider, 29, collapsing and dying on Mont Ventoux at the 1967 Tour de France with a post-mortem revealing a mix of amphetamines and alcohol in his blood, which proved fatal in the intense heat.
Finest moment: Joining a break instigated by team-mate Barry Hoban, Simpson attacked on Hernani Hill and outsprinted German rider Rudi Altig to become Britain’s first world champion in 1965.