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Fifty-two British riders have competed in the Tour de France.
The first were Charley Holland and Bill Burl in 1937. However,
Burl had to leave the race after crashing into a car, and
Holland was penalised for holding onto one! In fact it was not
until 1955 that British riders were finally able to really make
their mark.
It was in 1974, after a start from Brest,
that the Tour de France first travelled from Brittany to
England, with a circuit stage in Plymouth. It aroused interest
and praise from the critics, but no more.
However, twenty years later, when the Tour
crossed the Channel (via the Tunnel) to visit England for the
second time, it was an immense public success on the roads
leading from Dover to Brighton, and then in Portsmouth.
From a sporting point of view Bill Burl and
Charles Holland were the first British riders to attempt the
Tour de France in 1937, but it wasn't until the first British
team took part in the 1955 race that a British rider made it to
the finish in Paris. Of the ten members of that 1955 team two
men, Tony Hoar and Brian Robinson, managed to finish the race,
while their team mates fell foul of saddle sores, broken bones
and a plague of punctures.
Brian Robinson from the 1955 team went on to
complete a further 6 Tour de France races, winning 2 stages in
1957 and 1956. Tom Simpson followed Robinson into riding in the
Tour and rode 7 times. Barry Hoban rode an impressive 12 Tours
between 1964 and 1978, winning 8 stages over this time. Michaël
Wright competed in 8 over the same period and won
3 stages.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Paul Scherwen
participated seven times in the Tour de France and Graham Jones
five times. Robert Millar was present at the start eleven times
between 1983 and 1993, winning three stage victories, along with
the Best Climber classification in 1984. As for Max Sciandri, he
took part in seven editions of the Tour in the 1990s and won one
stage victory.
1994, Chris Boardman broke a record by
winning the prologue in Lille at a staggering average speed of
55,152 Km/h. The "yellow shirt" was worn by Sean Yates that same
year.
British riders have won 23 stages in total
and the first to wear the Yellow Jersey was Tom Simpson in 1962.
He was also ranked sixth in the overall final classification
that year. David Millar was the last British rider to wear the
Yellow Jersey, in 2000. That same year, during the time trial at
the Start of the Tour from the Futuroscope, he won the first of
his three stage victories on the Tour.
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