Alby Barlow (born 1916) was an Australian racing cyclist from 1935 who road for Oakleigh. In 1947 he was the Australian 100 miles road champion and holder of the 25, 50 and 100 miles Australian unpaced road records In 1935, his first years as a professional, Barlow was 9th in the

Tour of Gippsland Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

over off a handicap of 41'. He was then 4th in the Phillip Island Grand Prix over . In 1936 Barlow won the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Sale on a handicap of 16'. He also rode the Warrnambool to Melbourne off a handicap of 9', finishing 50th. Despite his prominence as a road rider, Barlow never featured in the results of the Warrnambool. In 1947 he was part of a disappointing scratch group that finished 5' 26" down on the fastest time of Keith Rowley. Barlow won the opening event of the 1937 season, over in a course record. While best known for his road racing, he also competed on the track. In 1937 he won a 5-mile points race at

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

. He then won the A grade section of the Barnet Glass Grand Prix, of , over tile Black Spur. He just beaten by Thurgood and, Moritz in the sprint for the line in the Sale Grand Prix of . He was second fastest off scratch in the Healing Midlands Tour of and was third to Moritz, in the Australian championship. Barlow was third fastest in the Goulburn to Sydney in 1938, behind Bill Moritz. In November he travelled to Nouméa as part of a team supported by the Referee, which reported that on 1 January 1939 Barlow won two track events and finished second in an eight-lap event and created two records, and followed that up with a win in a road race over 2 days. In 1939 Barlow narrowly defeated Moritz in the Melbourne -

race over with a handicap of 6'. He was third to Dean Toseland in the Sale Grand Prix, and rode well in the Tour of Gippsland. He was initially suspended for one month for accepting assistance from a rider who had abandoned, threatening his participation in the Sydney six-day race. At the end of the year he was rated as the 7th best professional road rider in Australia. The Mt Gambier 100 which in 1947 carried with it the title of Australian 100 miles road champion, was on the second race Barlow finished in 1947. He defeated Keith Thurgood, Les Dunne and Max Rowley in a new course record. In late 1947 Barlow broke a series of unpaced road records, starting with the record for out and home in 1hr 1' 17" breaking the time of Frankie Thomas from 1933. He followed that up with records for out and home in 2hr 11' 10", riding the first in 56' 25". He then set his sights on the record which he set with a time of 4hr 39' 12" on December 15. In May 1948 Barlow traveled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and then to

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where he competed in the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial over , the Esperazza Grand Prix and the

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Grand Prix. In Barlow's words, "I got the pants towelled off me in the Grand Prix Des Nations, but went much better in the other two races." Barlow travelled to Valkenburg, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

however he was hit by another rider whilst training over the course and was forced to withdraw. Barlow was reported to have entered the

1949 Paris–Roubaix The 1949 Paris–Roubaix was the 47th edition of the Paris–Roubaix, a classic one-day cycle race in France. The single day event was held on 17 April 1949 and stretched from Paris to the finish at Roubaix Velodrome. The race was declared ...

, however it is unclear if he started the race. In any event he did not finish. In 1949 he was riding the United States, with his first objective a trans America record attempt, but was delayed by snowfall in Arizona. He rode in a six-day event in New York at the end of February 1950 but walked off the track after 3 days following a dispute with race official

Reggie McNamara Reggie McNamara (born Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia, 7 November 1887,. died Belleville, New Jersey, United States, October 1970 or 1971 or 1972) was an Australian cyclist known as a roughhouse velodrome rider with a string of dramatic cr ...

, the former Australian champion.

Palmares

;1936 :1st Melbourne to Sale ;1939 :1st Melbourne - Bendigo ;1947 :1st Australian 100 miles road championship :Australian records for 25, 50 and 100 miles (40, 80 and 160 km) ;1948 : unplaced Grand Prix des Nations : unplaced Esperazza Grand Prix : unplaced

Grand Prix : DNS

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Alby 1916 births Year of death missing Australian male cyclists Place of birth missing Cyclists from Victoria (Australia) People from Gisborne, Victoria