Michael Wright (born 25 March 1941) is an English former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

from 1962 to 1976. He won stages in 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 ...

and the

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 ...

stage races and represented Great Britain at several world championships.

Early life

Wright was born in

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. His father died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and his mother remarried to a Belgian soldier. The family emigrated to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

when Wright was only three. He grew up in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. Wright's first sport was

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. However, when his stepfather died leaving the family short of money, Wright turned to cycling as a more lucrative way of exploiting his athletic talent. His first language was

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and, although he represented Great Britain at the

and several World road race championships, his English was limited. During the winter of 1967-8 he took evening classes to brush up his English in preparation for riding with the British team. In 2006, he told

Procycling ''Procycling'', or ''ProCycling'', was a cycling sports magazine owned by Future plc. First published in April 1999, there were 13 issues a year distributed in all countries where there are English-speaking readers. History Andrew Sutcliffe ...

magazine that his English is poor. He told Procycling that he profited from his British nationality because he was never good enough to ride in a Belgian national team. Being British gave him rides in world championships and, in 1967 and 1968, in the Tour de France (held in those years for national teams). He rode with a small Union Jack sewn to the sleeves of his jerseys. When he stopped racing, he worked as a salesman for the IJsboerke ice-cream company, which briefly had a professional team of its own.

Professional career

Wright was too big to ride well in the high mountains, but he was a fast finisher from a small group.

Tour de France

Wright rode the

eight times, finishing 24th in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and winning three stages. Together with

Barry Hoban Barry Hoban (5 February 1940 – 19 April 2025) was an English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight betw ...

, Wright provided Great Britain with its most consistent period of Tour stage wins during the late sixties and early seventies. He was a member of the British team in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

- the year that Tommy Simpson collapsed and died on

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 ...

. Tour record: *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

: 56th *

: 24th - 1st stage 20:

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

: did not finish - 1st stage 7:

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

: 28th *

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

: 71st *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

: 55th *

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

: 57th - 1st stage 10:

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Aubagne Aubagne (; according to the classic norm or according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2020, the commune was awarded three flowers by the ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

: 57th

Vuelta a España

Wright won 4 stages of the

: 2 in 1968 and 2 in 1969. In 1968 he was third in the points classification. In 1969 he came 5th on general classification, 2nd on the points classification and wore the leader's jersey for 2 days. Stage wins: *1968:

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

*1969:

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

and Moyá >

Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers C ...

Major results

;1961 - Amateur :21 wins ;1962 - First professional year :1st Grand Prix du Brabant Wallon ;1963 :1st

Hoegaarden Hoegaarden () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaar ...

;1964 :1st

Tour du Condroz The Tour de Condroz was a Belgian cycling race organized for the last time in 1978. With Brussels as starting place, the major part of the course was situated in the Condroz region of the Ardennes, Liège. Nandrin was the finish place. The co ...

:1st Grand Prix de Denain :1st Critéruim de Visé :1st Bruxelles-Nandrin :1st Stage 2 Tour du Nord ;1965 :1st Hoeilaart-Diest-Hoeilaart :1st Criterium of London :1st Stage 20

:5th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

;1966 :1st Bruxelles-Verviers :4th

Henninger Turm Henninger Turm (Henninger Tower) was a grain storage silo located in the Sachsenhausen-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. It was built by Henninger Brewery (now part of the Binding Brewery/Radeberger Group) and had a storage capacity of 16 ...

;1967 :1st Vaux Grand Prix :1st Grand Prix de Pamel :3rd Manx Trophy :1st Stage 7

:6th

Omloop Het Volk , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

;1968 :1st Flèche Hesbignonne :1st Critérium d'Hasselt :1st Stage 1

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a UCI race classifications, 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the UCI World Tour, World Tour, by the ...

::1st Stages 2 & 4 :5th

Tour de l'Oise The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

;1969 :1st Tour du Condroz :1st Stage 1 Vuelta al País Vasco - G.P Eibar :Tour du Nord ::1st Stages 1 & 4 :5th Overall

::1st Stages 1 & 13 ;1970 :1st stage 3

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

;1973 :1st Stage 10

;1974 :1st Circuit du Port de Dunkerque :2nd

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

;1975 :2nd Circuit de Wallonie ;1976 :1st Circuit de Niel

External links

Michael Wright's palmares at memoire-du-cyclisme.net
*
British riders at the Vuelta from veloarchive.com

Bibliography

Fotheringham, W. (2005), ''Roule Britannia: A History of Britons in the Tour de France'', London: Yellow Jersey, {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Michael 1941 births Living people English male cyclists British male cyclists British Tour de France stage winners British Vuelta a España stage winners Sportspeople from Bishop's Stortford