Tony Bell (born 20 June 1958) is a freelance writer and journalist, known for his ''What's he on'' column in

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

, where he was a columnist between 1994 and 2006. His popularity gained as a CW columnist led to engagements as an

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

at cycling events. Bell is also a serious reporter with a degree in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

who has reported on race riots, gangland contracts, drugs wars and environmental and social issues in his native

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

for

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

and

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

. Following a road accident in which several members of Rhyl cycling club were killed, Bell criticized the attitudes of those such as

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

, whose column in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' he considered anti-cyclist, and what he saw as the cynical attitude of motorists. He called for a single organisation to represent cyclists in the UK to avoid such tragedies recurring. Bell was also professional cyclist. He once held the mountains and points jerseys in the prestigious Mi-Août Bretonne. He is the brother of former National Amateur and Professional Road Race Champion Mark Bell, who died in 2009. Bell lives in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

and supplements his income as a bus driver. He is writing an autobiography, provisionally called "Pinball", excerpts of which are on his web site.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Tony 1958 births Living people English male journalists English male cyclists British male cyclists Writers from Liverpool Cycling journalists People from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral