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 spo ...

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 sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

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: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

in 1980, when she was 18, and took the bronze medal behind the American Beth Heiden on a tough circuit at

Sallanches Sallanches (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, M ...

, in the French

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. The ''

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administra ...

'', 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 women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

championship at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

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 Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

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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 town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

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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 female cyclists British cycling road race champions 20th-century English sportswomen Year of birth missing (living people)