40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SIMPSON'S DEATH

Tome Simpson Mont Ventoux

Today it is 40 years since Britain?s only world pro road race champion, Tom Simpson, died on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France.

People say they can remember exactly where they were when they heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated, and for a generation of cyclists it?s the same with Tom Simpson.

?The heat was incredible after Châlet Reynard and, as I changed to my bottom gear I thought, Tom can?t do that, he can?t change down, he?ll still have to push on.

"I had just started work as a journalist on Cycling Weekly?s forerunner, Cycling and Mopeds, and was still racing. On the night Simpson died I finished second in a local race and rode straight home for a shower.

"I turned the television on at nine o?clock just in time to hear the news reader say: ?The British cyclist Tom Simpson died today in the Tour de France.? I just sat down and cried."

"I was sitting at home in Belgium watching the television and it just came on, a newsflash. Tom?s death was such a shock and I think you react to a shock like that by wanting to do something practical, something to help, at least I do.

"The only thing I could think of was to go to his funeral in England, so I immediately began to organise that. Tom Simpson was my team-mate in Peugeot in 1967."

Photo: Offside/L'Equipe

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Founded in 1891, Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews, extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing, as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features. Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms, from good old-fashioned print to online journalism, and video.