Richard William "Fatty" Lamb (26 December 1907 – 7 July 1974) was an Australian

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 cyclin ...

who competed on both

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the short ...

, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as

Hubert Opperman Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE (29 May 1904 – 18 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acc ...

. Throughout his career, Lamb was associated with

Malvern Star Malvern Star is a manufacturer of bicycles based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was established in 1902, and went on to become a known brand in Australia. History Malvern Star opened in a small shop at 58 Glenferrie Rd, in the Melbour ...

Bicycles and

Bruce Small Sir Andrew Bruce Small OStJ (11 December 1895 – 1 May 1980) was an Australian businessman and politician. In Melbourne, he developed Malvern Star bicycles into a household name in Australia, then retired to the Gold Coast, Queensland, whe ...

Major results

;1925 : Motor-paced cycling record for 10 miles in 11' 22"". :1st and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney. ;1926 :1st and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney ;1927 : 9th and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney : 1st Victorian Olympic Time Trial test race : 1st the Australian Olympic Time Trial test race ;1928 :2nd amateur Goulburn to Sydney ;1929 :1st Austral Wheel Race ;1930 :1st Australasian road championship title and Blue Riband in the Warrnambool to Melbourne ;1931 :35th & last finisher in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

:1st Grand Prix de Marseilles (motor pace) ;1932 :1st Australasian road championship title and Blue Riband in the Warrnambool to Melbourne :1st in Brisbane, Six Days, Brisbane (Queensland), Australia ;1933 :One hour motor paced record of 60 miles 575 yards :1st

Tour of Tasmania The Tour of Tasmania is a cycling road race contested annually in Tasmania, Australia. Created in 1996, the race formed part of the calendar of the Union Cycliste International from 1997 to 2002. The race was not contested the 2001, 2003 and 20 ...

;1934 :1st Batman 1000 :

Centenary 1000 The Centenary 1000 cycling race was a one-week road bicycle race over seven stages covering . The race was run in 1934 as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria. The race was originally conceived along the lines of the Dunlop Gra ...

::3rd and fastest Stage 6 ::3rd overall in championship and Australian national road race title

Australian amateur cycling career

In August 1925 Lamb made his first attempt at

motor-paced cycling Motor-paced racing and motor-paced cycling refer to cycling behind a pacer in a car or more usually on a motorcycle. The cyclist (or stayer in this case) follows as close as they can to benefit from the slipstream of their pacer. The first paced ...

riding 10 miles in 11' 22", easily beating the Australasian amateur record of 17' 32" and the British Empire record of 14' 21". During this ride, Lamb was reported to have broken eight world's records, eight British Empire records, nineteen

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

standing and flying start records, and a similar number of Australasian records. Lamb won the Goulburn to Sydney race twice, in 1925 and 1926. The Goulburn to Sydney was a handicap race where the slower riders start first. On each occasion Lamb started from scratch, being the last group to start, and in winning the race, also set the fastest time. The win in 1926 was controversial because Lamb had swapped bikes with another competitor, which was contrary to the written rules, however an official from the NSW Cyclists Union had assured riders before the start that they would not be disqualified for changing bikes. In 1927 Lamb was again starting from scratch and again set the fastest time, but came 9th on handicap, with the winner JA Shaw starting 52 minutes before Lamb. Lamb's time in 1925 was 6h 17' 55" which was 6' 35" better that the amateur record and 1' 36" better than the best professional time for the race. In 1927 Lamb finished in 6h 00' 44". Newspapers at the time reported that Lamb was expected to be selected for the Australian team to the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Lamb won the Victorian Olympic Time Trial test race in October 1927, covering 126 miles in 6h 14'43", winning by over 24 minutes. He then won the Australian Olympic Time Trial test race in November 1927, covering 120 miles in 6h 08'14", winning by over 36 minutes. Lamb also competed in the Australian Olympic track trials but was not successful. Lamb was controversially overlooked for the Australian team, with no rider being sent for the road events and

Dunc Gray Edgar Laurence "Dunc" Gray (17 July 190630 August 1996) was an Australian track cyclist and Olympian. Gray was born in Goulburn, New South Wales. He was called 'Dunc', which dates back to school where he was called 'Dunc' and this was later ex ...

and

Jack Standen Jack Standen (20 February 1909 – 29 October 1973) track racing cyclist. Standen was educated at Waverley College He competed in the sprint event at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Amateur career Standen had a promising start to his career ...

being sent for the track events.

Australian professional cycling career

After being overlooked for the Olympics, Lamb chose to turn professional in February 1928, for £1,000 for the season. In his first race as a professional he won a 10-mile Motor-paced event in a season best time of 11' 56". Lamb again rode the Goulburn to Sydney in 1928, again from scratch, this time as a professional and came second behind Ken Ross, also from scratch. In 1929 Lamb won the Austral Wheel Race . He then spent six months riding in the United States, defeating motorpaced champion

Franco Giorgetti Franco Giorgetti (13 October 1902 – 18 March 1983) was an Italian racing cyclist and Olympic champion in track cycling. Giorgetti was born in Bovisio-Masciago. He won a gold medal in the team pursuit at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antw ...

, George Chapman, Charles Jaeger, and Francesco Zucchetti. Lamb also led the first 2 days of the 6 days’ race at Chicago but had to withdraw due to injury. Lamb twice won the Australian national road race title in 1930 and 1932, by winning the Blue Riband for the fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne.. Lamb set a record time of 6h 21' 18" in 1932, nearly 2 hours faster than his time in 1930. Lamb rode in the

1931 Tour de France The 1931 Tour de France was the 25th edition of the Tour de France, which took place from 30 June to 26 July. It consisted of 24 stages over . The race was won by French cyclist Antonin Magne. The sprinters Charles Pélissier and Rafaele di Pac ...

in a combined Australia/Switzerland team including Opperman,

Ossie Nicholson Oserick Bernard "Ossie" Nicholson (1910 – 9 November 1965) was an Australian cyclist who twice held the World Endurance record for distance in a calendar year. Australian cycling career Nicholson was a professional cyclist in the years be ...

and

Frankie Thomas Frank Marion Thomas Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006), was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was ...

. He finished in 35th place and was the last finisher. After the Tour de France, Lamb won the Grand Prix de Marseilles (motor pace) In 1932 Lamb won the Brisbane, Six Days with

, defeating a quality field including Frankie Thomas, Opperman and

Jack Fitzgerald Jack Fitzgerald ( 1873 – 16 April 1929) was a founder member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Fitzgerald was an Irishman who had settled in London, and had joined the socialist movement after becoming a secularist, embracing sociali ...

. He had a falling out with Bruce Small in September 1932, going to work for a rival manufacturer Finlay Brothers. In February 1933 Lamb rode 60 miles and 575 yards in an hour to break the motor paced record set by Opperman in 1930. By April 1933 Lamb had reconciled with Bruce Small, with advertisements quoting Lamb as stating "from now on, I'm sticking to Malvern Star". He also won the

, a six-day stage race covering , beating Frankie Thomas by 1 second. In 1934 Lamb again won the Tour of Tasmania, titled the "Batman 1000" a race over 8 stages covering starting in Launceston and finishing in Ulverstone. Lamb narrowly defeated

Ern Milliken Ernest Milliken (1910 – 1992) was an Australian Road racing cyclist who performed strongly in distance races and individual time trials. Career highlights ;1931 :Fastest Melbourne to Colac in world record time for :1st Victorian time tr ...

with Opperman in 3rd place. Lamb had barely completed one long stage race when he set off in the next, for the rich prize purse in the

, a one-week race over seven stages covering that carried with it the Australasian road championship title. While Lamb did not feature in the early stages, his strength showed through on the arduous sixth stage, extended to 152 miles (245 km) after stage 5 had to be stopped at

Mount Buffalo Mount Buffalo is a mountain plateau of the Australian Alps and is within the Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is noted for its dramatic scenery. The summit of the hig ...

due to a torrential downpour of rain hail and sleet. Lamb was 3rd and fastest at

Sale Sale may refer to: Common meanings * Sales, the exchange of goods for profits * Sales, discounts and allowances in the prices of goods Places *Sale, Victoria, a city in Australia *Sale, Myanmar, a city *Sale, Greater Manchester, a town in Engla ...

, and finished 3rd overall in the championship and the Australasian road championship title.

Personal

Lamb was born in Melbourne on 26 December 1907, the son of Frederick Lamb and Alice Merrick. His cousin Eddie Lamb was also a professional cyclist. In July 1932 Lamb married Elizabeth May Haddow. He died at on .

References

External links

* *
Official Tour de France results for Richard Lamb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Richard 1907 births 1974 deaths Australian male cyclists Cyclists from Melbourne