Stan Brittain
Encyclopedia
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Brittain (born 4 October 1931) was an English racing cyclist who rode time-trials, road races and the track. He won a silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games, came third in the 1955 Peace Race and finished the 1958 Tour de France
.
district of Liverpool
. He joined the Woolton Wheelers and by the end of 1950 had ridden 1h 11m 45s in the East Liverpool Wheelers Novices' 25-mile time-trial. He won his first race at the distance in 1h 7m 45s wearing plimsolls and a flapping shirt.
Brittain was called up to the army
to start his national service
in 1952. There he made up an Army team with Brian Robinson and Jim Grieves. He also became known as the nephew of Regimental Sergeant Major Brittain, who was reputed to have the loudest voice on a British army drill ground.
stage race in Ireland
in 1953. Bad weather meant that 58 riders quit the race and 16 finished. Brittain was among the non-finishers. He was picked to ride for Britain
in the 1954 UCI Road World Championships
at Solingen
, near Cologne
, Germany
. He rode with Bill Baty, Ray Booty
, John Perks, Bernard Pusey and Don Sanderson. Brittain crashed on the seventh lap and finished 12 minutes behind the leaders.
In 1956 Brittain was again selected to represent Great Britain. He came ninth on the first day but then he slipped further behind and dropped out at the start of stage six.
In 1957 he won two stages and half the intermediate prizes, or primes, offered to the first rider through cities along the route.
In 1958 he finished ninth.
that were held in Melbourne
. He competed in both the Men's Individual Road Race, where he finished in sixth position, and in the Men's Team Road Race, wher Great Britain finished second and he won a silver medal.
, organiser of the Tour de France, invited Britain to send riders in 1958. Brittain, Brian Robinson and Ron Coe were to ride with Shay Elliott of Ireland, an Austrian, a Dane and two Portuguese. Brittain rode a 'Witcombe Cycles' bike. The British and Elliott rode as a team within a team. Robinson won the stage into Brest
and Brittain finished 68th at 3h 3m 5s. He said in an interview in Cycling
:
Brittain was an independent, a semi-professional. He rode for Viking Cycles in Britain for the first months of 1959, then left to live off the prizes he could win in Belgium
. He didn't ride the Tour de France because of a broken wrist.
He rode on the continent again in 1960 and started the Tour de France.
He stayed in France, living in Troyes
, and rode criterium
s, local races with an engagement fee, until the end of summer.
He abandoned the Tour again in 1961, when it reached the mountains and rode until the end of 1964 in Britain and then stopped racing when he was 33.
In February 1988 he was presented with a silver pin by Anne, Princess Royal
commemorating his achievements in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
.
Biography
Brittain was born in the Knotty AshKnotty Ash
Knotty Ash is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Historically within Lancashire, at the 2001 Census, the population was 13,200.-Description:...
district of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. He joined the Woolton Wheelers and by the end of 1950 had ridden 1h 11m 45s in the East Liverpool Wheelers Novices' 25-mile time-trial. He won his first race at the distance in 1h 7m 45s wearing plimsolls and a flapping shirt.
Brittain was called up to the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
to start his national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in 1952. There he made up an Army team with Brian Robinson and Jim Grieves. He also became known as the nephew of Regimental Sergeant Major Brittain, who was reputed to have the loudest voice on a British army drill ground.
Cycling competitions
The army entered him for races and his showing led to his first national selection, in a "B" team for the An TóstalAn Tóstal
An Tóstal was the name for a series of festivals held in Ireland in the 20th Century. Inaugurated in 1953 as a celebration of Irish life, it continued on until 1958 when it died out....
stage race in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1953. Bad weather meant that 58 riders quit the race and 16 finished. Brittain was among the non-finishers. He was picked to ride 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 the 1954 UCI Road World Championships
UCI Road World Championships
The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale...
at Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
, near Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He rode with Bill Baty, Ray Booty
Ray Booty
Raymond 'Ray' Charles Booty, sometimes nicknamed The Boot, is a former English road bicycle racer. In 1956 he was the first man to beat four hours for the individual time trial - a feat that was reported around the world and compared to beating four minutes for running a mile two years...
, John Perks, Bernard Pusey and Don Sanderson. Brittain crashed on the seventh lap and finished 12 minutes behind the leaders.
Peace race
In 1955 Great Britain picked Stan Brittain to ride the Peace Race, the Soviet bloc's amateur version of the Tour de France. He came second on the first day and next day took the lead. He held it until the seventh stage, when he lost it to Gustav Schur of East Germany. Brittain slipped to third on the ninth day. Schur won and Brittain came third.In 1956 Brittain was again selected to represent Great Britain. He came ninth on the first day but then he slipped further behind and dropped out at the start of stage six.
In 1957 he won two stages and half the intermediate prizes, or primes, offered to the first rider through cities along the route.
In 1958 he finished ninth.
1956 Olympics
Brittain represented Great Britain at the 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
that were held in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. He competed in both the Men's Individual Road Race, where he finished in sixth position, and in the Men's Team Road Race, wher Great Britain finished second and he won a silver medal.
Tour de France
Jacques GoddetJacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1986....
, organiser of the Tour de France, invited Britain to send riders in 1958. Brittain, Brian Robinson and Ron Coe were to ride with Shay Elliott of Ireland, an Austrian, a Dane and two Portuguese. Brittain rode a 'Witcombe Cycles' bike. The British and Elliott rode as a team within a team. Robinson won the stage into Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and Brittain finished 68th at 3h 3m 5s. He said in an interview in Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
:
- There was a big difference between the Tour of BritainTour of BritainThe Tour of Britain is a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain....
(which had been used as a selection race) and the Peace Race compared with the Tour de France. It wasn't wise to go from one to another in such short stages. Although I finished 66th, I was never in contention. The Tour is a race and a half. It was then and is now. It is the class of riders who make the race and the country you go through: the Alps and the Pyrenees - the toughest in the world - which makes it a bike race.
- I wasn't involved in the racing. That was up front with the big-hitters. Just to get through the Alps and the Pyrenees was something. I had lost my climbing ability, but even in my best climbing years I was never going to climb those mountains, some 12 miles long. I was six-foot something and with a racing weight of 12 stones four [78kg, 172lb], which made it difficult to take over the hills and the mountains.
Brittain was an independent, a semi-professional. He rode for Viking Cycles in Britain for the first months of 1959, then left to live off the prizes he could win in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. He didn't ride the Tour de France because of a broken wrist.
He rode on the continent again in 1960 and started the Tour de France.
- All was going well and I came to the Tour more confident than I had been in 1958. I picked up a stomach bug after seven days. It was on the stage from LimogesLimogesLimoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
to BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
- I hadn't eaten for two days - and my legs had gone. The slight hills finished me. I would have got through the Tour with style if it hadn't been for that.
He stayed in France, living in Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, and rode criterium
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....
s, local races with an engagement fee, until the end of summer.
He abandoned the Tour again in 1961, when it reached the mountains and rode until the end of 1964 in Britain and then stopped racing when he was 33.
- It becomes harder and the enthusiasm wanes. I had been training for so many years and I had had my best years. I could have ridden a few more but I decided that was it. I wasn't going to improve and I was no longer as good as I had been.
Honours
In 1957 Stan Brittain was awarded the Golden Cycle by Merseyside Cycling Development.In February 1988 he was presented with a silver pin by Anne, Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
commemorating his achievements in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
Major results by year
1953- Abandoned - An Tostal race, Ireland - British Army B Team
1954
- Crashed - World Championships - Solingen, Individual road race.
1955
- 3rd - Peace race
1956
- Abandoned - Peace race
- Silver medal - 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
Men's Team Road Race, - 6th - 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
Men's Individual Road Race,
1957
- ? - Peace race
- Won 2 stages
- 1st overall - Dagens Nyheters 6-day stage race (Sweden)
1958
- 9th - Peace race
- 66th - Tour de France1958 Tour de FranceThe 1958 Tour de France was the 45th Tour de France, taking place June 26 to July 19, 1958. The total race distance was 24 stages over 4,319 km, at an average speed of 36.919 km/h....
1960
- Abandoned - Tour de France1960 Tour de FranceThe 1960 Tour de France was the 47th Tour de France, taking place between 26 June and 17 July 1960. The race featured 128 riders, of which 81 finished...
1961
- Abandoned - Tour de France1961 Tour de FranceThe 1961 Tour de France was the 48th running of the Tour de France. It meandered through France from 25 June to 16 July 1961. It consisted of 21 stages, a total of , which was ridden at an average speed of . Out of the 132 riders who started the tour, 72 managed to complete the tour's tough course...