William Law Bilsland (born 9 November 1945) is a British former professional racing

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

Amateur career

Bilsland began racing in 1963. As an amateur he raced mostly in the UK, especially in his native Scotland. He did though win in continental Europe taking 2 stages of the 1965 Tour of Slovakia. He also won in continental Europe taking 2 stages of the Peace Race in East Germany in 1966. That year he finished 9th in the

1966 Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

in Kingston, Jamaica. He won another stage of the Peace Race in 1967, this time in

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

. He competed in the individual road race at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. In 1969 he raced more prominently in continental Europe, winning a stage and the general classification of the Saint Pourcain 3 day race. He also won a stage of the Tour Nivernais Morvan (finishing second overall in the GC) and of the Tour de l'Avenir. These wins sandwiched a 16th-place finish in the World Amateur Road Race Championship held that year in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in Czechoslovakia.

Professional career

Turned pro in 1970 joining the Peugeot team in France for 3 seasons. He finished 14th in the 1971 World Professional Road race championship, finishing 6 minutes and 51 seconds behind winner

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 ...

. In 1973 he joined the TI Raleigh team for 2 seasons.

Post racing career

He retired from racing in 1974. He opened the eponymous bike sho
Billy Bilsland Cycles
in 1980 in Glasgow's Saltmarket, since taken over by his son Neil.

References

External links

* 1945 births Living people Scottish male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Glasgow {{UK-cycling-bio-stub