Amanda Ellen "Mandy" Jones is a British former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

born in 1962 who won the women's world road race championship in 1982.

Biography

Jones joined the West Pennine Road Club to ride on Sunday outings. She rode her first race in 1974 and five years later tied with Julie Earnshaw for first place in the national junior 10-mile

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

championship. They recorded 25m 42s. The experience persuaded her to race seriously. She rode the world road race championship for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1980, when she was 18, and took the bronze medal behind the American

Beth Heiden Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) Name *Beth (given name) lists p ...

on a tough circuit at Sallanches, in the French

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

. The '' Golden Book of Cycling'', which she signed when she was 29, said: "Her potential was evident: Britain had a new star in the making." She won the national 3,000m

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

championship at Leicester in 1982, broke the world 5,000 metres record on the same track in the same year, and became national 50-mile time-trial champion. Riding the world championship road race in Goodwood, Sussex,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that year, she broke clear of the field to win by 10 seconds. She was the first British woman to win a world championship for 15 years. She said: :"I won by accident. It was just plain daft. We were going downhill and I just rode past them. Then I looked back, saw I had a gap and kept going. I was praying my legs wouldn't collapse. But with around half a lap to go, I started thinking 'Hey, I could win this!" She was, said the ''Golden Book of Cycling'', "the perfect example of how a youngster, while enjoying the companionship and adventure of club runs, can successfully aspire to becoming a world champion by self-dedication and encouragement." She ran cycle shop Surosa Cycles in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

with her husband until January 2015. In 2009, she was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mandy 1960s births Living people UCI Road World Champions (women) Sportspeople from Oldham English female cyclists British cycling road race champions