Pioneering Wakefield cyclist and Tour de France icon Barry Hoban dies
Wakefield’s Barry Hoban who won eight stages of the Tour de France between 1967 and 1975 has died aged 85.
Mr Hoban's professional career spanned nearly two decades, during which he became one of Britain's most successful road cyclists.
He achieved eight Tour de France stage victories between 1967 and 1975 – a British record that stood until Mark Cavendish surpassed it in 2009.
He was the first Briton to win two consecutive stages in the Tour and the first to triumph in a mountain stage.
Speaking to the Express in 2011, he said: "I was born down the bottom of Stanley Hill and went to St Austin's in Wakefield. I used to race the school bus up that hill and I won.
"The 1950s was a utopian time for cycling. We used to live on our bikes.
“I was an ideal rider for the Tour de France because I had a lot of endurance.
"My recuperation was extremely high. I could ride one day and be completely annihilated, go to bed and sleep and be brand new again the next day.”
A significant moment in Hoban's career came during the 1967 Tour de France, following the tragic death of fellow British cyclist Tom Simpson on Mont Ventoux.
Mr Hoban was allowed to win the next stage in a poignant tribute.
He said: "I wasn't interested in winning the stage. But you had the senior guys in the peloton and after the stage (Tom died on) they said, ‘We are not racing today. We think it is right and fitting that a Briton wins the stage'.
"It was a strange, surreal day. I was riding at the front of the group, normally there is chit chat but there was no chit chat. It was like a subdued day."
Mr Hoban finally retired from racing in 1980 but continued in the bike business.
In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as a trailblazer for British cyclists on the European stage.
He was the second British rider ever to win a stage in the Tour de France, after Brian Robinson, from Mirfield.
And in 2013 he was awarded a Wakefield star.
He leaves his widow Helen, their daughter Daniella and his stepdaughters Jane and Joanne.