David John Rayner (born 4 March 1967, Shipley,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

- 16 November 1994,

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) was an

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professional racing cyclist who died aged 27 after an incident outside the Maestro nightclub, in Manningham Lane,

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. He was put on a life support machine at Bradford Royal Infirmary but died the next day.

Cycling career

Rayner joined his first club, East Bradford CC, at 12 in 1979. He then joined the Bradford Wheelers - Ellis Briggs - Saturne in 1984, and won the national junior road race championships at

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire and one of the largest cities of ...

. Early in 1984, he moved to Italy, joining the G.S.Porcari-Fanini-Berti Team, with which he stayed until 1986. Rayner competed in the junior world championship in 1985. After winning the under-22 award in the

Milk Race The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

in 1987, he turned professional for Interent-Yugo in

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. In 1988 he joined Raleigh-Banana, won the under-22 award again in the Milk Race, and came eighth overall. Next year he won the under-22 award for a record third year running. He joined Banana-Falcon in 1990 and in won the Scottish Provident Criterium Series . Rayner moved to the

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in 1991 to ride for Buckler under former world champion

Jan Raas Jan Raas (born 8 November 1952) is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg, the Tour of Flanders in 1979 and 1983, Paris–Roubaix in 1982 and Milan–San Remo in 1977. He w ...

. He joined I.M.E.-Health Share in 1993, moving to the United States. He returned to Britain in 1994 after an unsuccessful year and joined Lex-Townsend, coming second in the national criterium championships in

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Death

Rayner died following an altercation with a bouncer, Steven Barry Johnson, at a nightclub in Bradford, in November 1994. Johnson was charged with manslaughter but, when the case came to court on 18 November 1995, the judge decided that there was not enough evidence to charge him with manslaughter and, having already pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault, Johnson was instead put on probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

Memorial fund

The Dave Rayner Fund was set up in his memory on 12 January 1995, to help riders make a career from racing on the continent. A plaque and seat in his memory were unveiled at

Gargrave Gargrave is a large village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the A65 road, A65, north-west of Skipton. The village is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales; the River Aire and the Leeds ...

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on 9 July the same year. The first Rayners Ride around the

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was held on 10 September and the first Dave Rayner dinner was held at Norfolk Gardens,

on 4 November. Guests at the dinner were the comedian

Tony Capstick Joseph Anthony Capstick (27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003) was an English comedian, actor, musician and broadcaster. Life and career First son of Joe Capstick, a wireless operator in the RAF, and his wife, June, née Duncan, he was born in Ro ...

, journalist John Morgan and

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. This dinner has become an annual event with guests such as

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Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional Road bicycle racing, road and track cycling, track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but ...

Mark Cavendish Sir Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx people, Manx retired professional cyclist. As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialised in the Madison (cycling), madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he ...

, and

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

attending.

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin–Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España a ...

became the first beneficiary of the fund. He went on to turn professional with

Cofidis Cofidis (from the French: mpagnie nancière de tribution) is a French multinational consumer credit company owned by Crédit Mutuel. It was founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses, a company jointly owned by the Otto and Mulliez families, to provid ...

. More recent beneficiaries who have joined the professional peloton include

Adam Yates Adam Richard Yates (born 7 August 1992) is a British professional road and track racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Yates placed fourth overall at the 2016 Tour de France and became the first British rider to win the Young rider clas ...

and

Dan McLay Daniel "Dan" McLay (born 3 January 1992) is a British racing cyclist, competing in road, track and cyclo-cross, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His first season as a professional was 2015, racing for French pro-continental and 2014 Tour ...

Palmarès

;1985 :14th Junior World Road Race Championships :5th Junior World Team Time Trial Championships,

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;1987 :1st Under 22 award,

;1988 :8th Overall,

::1st Under 22 award,

;1989 :8th Overall,

::1st Under 22 award,

;1990 :1st Scottish Provident Criterium Series ;1991 :57th Overall,

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

;1994 :2nd

British National Circuit Race Championships The British National Circuit Race Championships cover several different categories of British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually. The first championships were held in 1979 for professional cyclists only. Amateur championships were ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Dave 1967 births 1994 deaths Cyclists from Yorkshire Sportspeople from Shipley, West Yorkshire