Amanda Ellen Jones is a former British racing cyclist who won the women's world road race championship in 1982.

Biography

Jones joined the West Pennine Road Club to ride on Sunday outings. She rode her first race in 1974 and five years later tied with Julie Earnshaw for first place in the national junior 10-mile time trial

Time trial

In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial  can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...

 championship. They recorded 25m 42s.

The experience persuaded her to race seriously. She rode the world road race championship for Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1980, when she was 18, and took the bronze medal behind the American Beth Heiden

Beth Heiden

Elizabeth Lee "Beth" Heiden Reid is an American athlete who excelled in speed skating, cross-country skiing and bicycle racing. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Her brother Eric was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics...

 on a tough circuit at Sallanches

Sallanches

Sallanches is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-Media:Sallanches is mentioned in American author Willa Cather's 1935 novel Lucy Gayheart.-External links:*...

, in the French Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

.

The Golden Book of Cycling

Golden Book of Cycling

The Golden Book of Cycling was created in 1932 by Cycling, a British cycling magazine,to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrators." There exists only a single copy of this compendium of...

, which she signed when she was 29, said: "Her potential was evident: Britain had a new star in the making."

She won the national 3,000m individual pursuit

Individual pursuit

The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track.The event is held over 4 km for men and 3 km for women. The two riders start at the same time and set off to complete the race distance in the...

 championship at Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 in 1982, broke the world 5,000 metres record on the same track in the same year, and became national 50-mile time-trial champion.

Riding the world championship road race in Goodwood, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 that year, she broke clear of the field to win by 10 seconds. She was the first British woman to win a world championship for 15 years. She said:

"I won by accident. It was just plain daft. We were going downhill and I just rode past them. Then I looked back, saw I had a gap and kept going. I was praying my legs wouldn't collapse. But with around half a lap to go, I started thinking 'Hey, I could win this!"

She was, said the Golden Book of Cycling, "the perfect example of how a youngster, while enjoying the companionship and adventure of club runs, can successfully aspire to becoming a world champion by self-dedication and encouragement.'

Now Mandy Bishop, she runs a cycle shop in Oldham

Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 with her husband.

In 2009, she was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame

British Cycling Hall of Fame

The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations.On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty riders to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame were announced...

.