Cycling hero Brian reflects on career

Brian, whose groundbreaking achievements in the sport came to prominence again last year during the build up to the Tour de France in Yorkshire, became the first Briton to win a single stage of the famous race in 1958.

Over the course of his career, Mirfield-based Brian rode against famous Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and with fellow Brit Tom Simpson, who tragically died of exhaustion during one of the Tour’s gruelling mountain stages in 1967.

He will talk about these and many of his other Tour de France experiences, on Wednesday April 29 at the Gomersal Park Hotel on Moor Lane in Cleckheaton at 7.30pm. He will also take questions from the audience and will be on hand afterwards to pose for photos and sign autographs. The bar is open from 7pm.

The event neatly coincides with the build-up to the inaugural Tour of Yorkshire, which takes places from May 1-3.

Thankfully, Brian has fully recovered from the road accident that hospitalised him in July last year, when he was knocked off his bike by a car in Thornhill Lees.

Tickets are £5 and can be purchased from Sowerby Brothers on Princess Street in Mirfield or Try Cycling Shop in Kirkburton in Huddersfield. Alternatively, enquiries can be made by email to [email protected].

All proceeds from the event will go towards the Dave Rayner Fund, a charity which supports up and coming young cyclists.