Brian Robinson, winner of Britain’s first-ever Tour de France stages and widely recognised to be the pioneer for British cycling in mainstream European racing in the 1950s, has died at the age of 91.
The news was announced by his family on Wednesday morning.
Born in Yorkshire in 1930, Robinson was one of the two first Britons to finish the Tour, together with Tony Hoar, in 1955. He then claimed the country’s first Tour de France stage victory in 1957, followed by another in 1959 and then went on to capture Great Britain’s first ever Criterium du Dauphiné, when France's second toughest stage race was known as the Dauphiné Libéré.
At a time when British riders rarely headed across the English Channel, Robinson became one of the top names in European racing, blazing a trail that would later be followed by the likes of Tom Simpson in the 1960s.
Captivated by tales of France after his brother Desmond, an amateur racer, attended a training camp at the invitation of Simplex components, Robinson had formed part of the Hercules team that raced abroad for the first time in 1955 and he adapted well to the Continental racing scene.
Robinson impressed with the rapidity of his transition from greenhorn to seasoned professional in Europe, riding and completing his first-ever Tour de France with just half a season of full-time racing at the highest level. Shocked by the toughness of it, but nonetheless able to get through, saying afterwards: “I had no idea men could do this to each other.”
Robinson’s first Tour stage win came in rather anti-climactic way, in the 1958 transition stage to Brest, after another rider, Italian Arrigo Padovan was disqualified. His second, though, was taken in spectacular style, winning by a 20-minute margin one day before the end of the 1959 Tour after only the goodwill of the officials and some arcane rules meant he had dodged exclusion from the race for missing the time cut.
Repeated stomach issues perhaps prevented him from going even higher in the overall standings than his career-best 14th place in the 1956 Tour de France. He had already placed eighth overall in the Vuelta a España that same year - a first ever top ten in a Grand Tour for a Briton, and like so many other of his results, an inspiration for those British riders subsequently racing abroad.
Robinson retired comparatively early, at 31, returning to work as a builder in his home town of Mirfield, Yorkshire.
He remained very close to the sport, however. Robinson was a president of the Dave Rayner Fund which helps Britons race abroad and was also active in the bringing of the Tour de France to Yorkshire in 2014. A hugely entertaining interviewee, Robinson could also regularly be spotted out training on his bike in recent years.
