Obituary: Former world champion Graham Webb — 1944-2017

The 1967 amateur men’s road race world champion Graham Webb has died at the age of 73.

Webb, who lived in Flanders for much of his adult life, was best known for his winning ride at the amateur World Championships in which he had been working for team-mate Peter Buckley before he was dropped from the winning breakaway. Webb took the lead inside the closing kilometres to score his famous world-beating victory.

Webb was also a three-time British national champion on the track in the early part of his career.

The Birmingham-born racer turned professional with the Mercier BP Hutchinson team that included Raymond Poulidor the year following his Worlds victory in 1968.

However, he ended up racing for just two seasons as a pro due to injury and a lack of financial backing.

He became a fixture of the racing scene in Belgium in later years and was inducted into the British Cycling hall of fame in 2010.

For a comprehensive look back over Webb’s fascinating career see next week’s Cycling Weekly, on sale Thursday June 8.