Colin Lewis (27 July 1942 – 4 March 2022) was a British racing cyclist. He started racing at 19 and rode 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 1960, finishing 7th.

Cycling career

Lewis represented Britain in the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

and the world championships at San Sebastian. He came 25th, the best British rider, in the individual road race at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. After racing in France he received offers to join the AC Boulogne-Billancourt in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, often a stepping stone to professional teams and especially to

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

or to ride for a smaller British team, Mackeson-Condor. The sponsors were a brewing company and a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

bicycle shop. He turned pro for £4 per week. Average weekly pay in Britain at the time was about £25. In 1967 he finished the Tour de France 84th and won the national road championship. Mackeson-Condor doubled his pay. In 1968 he won the road championship again, the only rider to win in successive years. He moved to another team,

Holdsworth Holdsworth was a bicycle manufacturer in London, England. It was created by William Frank Holdsworth, known as "Sandy", and the brand is now owned by Planet X Limited based in Rotherham, Yorkshire. History Sandy Holdsworth took over Ashlone C ...

Campagnolo Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagsh ...

, in 1969 and stayed there until he retired from professional racing in 1975. In the 1967 Tour de France, Lewis rode with and shared a room with

Tom Simpson Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager ...

, who died during the race while climbing

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

. Lewis said: The biggest lesson he learned on the Tour was that the ability to suffer for prolonged periods, Lewis said that this was the difference between British and Continental professionals at the time. Lewis was the last Welshman to ride the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

in 1968 until

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, ( , ; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and ...

in 2007. He said British professional racing scene was good but there were too few hard races and too much "chasing round straw bales all the time", a reference to races held up and down straight roads, often on seafronts. Lewis said the promise of development exited with companies such as

Yellow Pages The yellow pages are Telephone directory, telephone directories of business, businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, ...

, V&G Insurance and Redifusion sponsoring races, although the deals never lasted long, frequently sending them back to square one looking for new sponsors. Lewis had 250 victories, 38 professional, including the Golden Wheel Trophy and the Linz am Rhine.

Other work and personal life

Lewis was born in

Abertysswg Abertysswg () is a village in the county borough of Caerphilly, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Location Situated in the South Wales Valleys, Abertysswg is a small village located to the east of Pontlottyn and south-e ...

, Wales on 27 July 1942. He opened a cycle shop in 1976. He was manager of Eastway Cycle Circuit in Hackney, London, and spent seven years as training director at the South East Centre of Excellence. Lewis lived in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, and served as president of Mid-Devon Cycling Club. His wife, Pam, died in August 2010. He died from cancer in

Bovey Tracey Bovey Tracey () is a town and civil parish in Devon, England. It is located on the edge of Dartmoor, which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: ''The Gateway to the Moor''. It is often known locally as ''Bovey''. About so ...

, on 4 March 2022, at the age of 79.

Palmarès

;1960 :7th

;1966 :25th Individual road race,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

;1967 :1st

British National Road Race Championships The British National Road Race Championships cover different categories of United Kingdom, British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually. History Between 1943 and 1958, two separate bodies – the British League of Racing Cyclist ...

;1968 :1st

:''Linz am Rhine'' ;? :''Golden Wheel Trophy''

Herne Hill Herne Hill () is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the London ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Colin 1942 births 2022 deaths Welsh male cyclists British male cyclists Commonwealth Games cyclists for Wales Cyclists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games British cycling road race champions Sportspeople from Torquay Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Deaths from cancer in England