Brian Robinson

Brian Robinson (born 3 November 1930 in Mirfield, Yorkshire) was an English road racing cyclist of the 1950s and early 1960s.

First Tour de France

In 1955, Robinson joined Hercules, Britain?s first professional cycling team, which was planning to ride the Tour de France - then based on a national teams format. In preparation, the team raced in France (Robinson was 8th in Paris-Nice), the Netherlands and Belgium, where Robinson finished fourth in La Flèche Wallonne, behind Stan Ockers; he also led the Tour of the Six Provinces up to the sixth stage. The Tour de France proved a tough test for the Hercules team and only Robinson and one other (former naval electrician Tony Hoar) were left in the race by half distance. Behind Louison Bobet, Robinson eventually finished 29th, while Hoar won the lanterne rouge as final finisher (Robinson and Hoar were the first Britons to finish the Tour de France - 18 years after the first Britons attempted the feat: Charles Holland and Bill Burl in 1937).

Related Topics:
Cycling team - Paris-Nice - La Flèche Wallonne - Stan Ockers - Louison Bobet - Lanterne rouge - 1937

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In 1956, the Tour conditions were varied to allow mixed teams. Robinson joined a squad which included Charly Gaul. He took third place on the first stage, and by the end of the Tour was 14th overall, Gaul 13th.

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He also rode the Vuelta a Espana in Hugo Koblet's Swiss-British team, and was Iying second after the fourth stage. He punctured on a climb on the 10th stage when in a break with Italy's Angelo Conterno, the eventual race winner, but managed to recover from 11th overall to an eventual eighth.

Related Topics:
Vuelta a Espana - Hugo Koblet - Angelo Conterno

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In 1957 he scored his first professional win in the GP de la Ville de Nice, beating Bobet by 50 seconds. Then he finished third in the opening Spring Classic Milan-San Remo to Spain's Miguel Poblet. However, he crashed on wet cobbles early in the 1957 Tour de France, injuring his left wrist. He recovered to finish 15th in the world championship won by Rik Van Steenbergen.

Related Topics:
Classic - Milan-San Remo - Spain - Miguel Poblet - Rik Van Steenbergen

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