The Archer Road Club is a

cycling club A cycling club is a society for cyclists. Clubs tend to be mostly local, and can be general or specialised. In the United Kingdom, for example, the Cyclists' Touring Club, (CTC) is a national cycling association; the Tricycle Association, Tandem ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. The club has produced national,

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champions.

Formation and early history

Archer Road Club was founded in 1926 as a breakaway from Bayswater Wheelers. The original members met above Teddy Barnes' cycle shop in Archer Road. The shop (E.J. Barnes) is still there, but Archer Road has now been incorporated into

Westbourne Grove Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill, an area of west London. Its western end is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its eastern end is in the City of Westminster; it runs from Kensington Park Road in th ...

. The club has moved from

North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area. North Kensington is wh ...

, via

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

, but draws members from all London and further afield. The principal meeting place (especially in the summer) is

Hillingdon Cycle Circuit Hillingdon Cycle Circuit is a purpose-built road cycling circuit situated in Minet Country Park, Hayes in west London. The 0.93 mile long, 6 metre wide circuit is used for year-round racing, training and leisure riding. History Chas Messenger, ...

in Hayes, West London. In the 1970s the club was one of the first with sponsorship. Early sponsors included Cutty Sark whisky and Saba, a cycle component company. The club has played host to riders from Australia and New Zealand, including Phil Anderson, who became the first non-European to wear the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, and

Gary Wiggins Gary Wiggins (20 November 1952 – 25 January 2008) was an Australian professional cyclist, who specialised in six-day racing. His son is the British cyclist, five-time Olympic champion and 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. Early li ...

, father of

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

, was also a member.

The Archer Grand Prix

The club has organised the Archer Grand Prix, one of Britain's top one day races, for 50 years. The 2006 edition was won by Mariusz Wiesiak of Poland from

Malcolm Elliott Malcolm Elliott (born 1 July 1961) is a former English professional cyclist, whose professional career has lasted from 1984 to 1997 when he retired and from 2003 up to 2011 when he made his comeback in British domestic racing. Known as a sprin ...

of Pinarello Racing Team.

Olympic, World and Commonwealth Championships

Former member,

won the gold medal for the

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. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens. He won the world championship for the pursuit in 2003 and 2007. In 2007 he was a member of the winning

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

team. In 1998 Wiggins was world junior champion in the individual pursuit. Steve Heffernan won a gold medal for the 10 miles

scratch track {{Infobox musical artist , name = Scratch Track (band) , image = , caption = , image_size = , background = group_or_band , alias = , origin = Jac ...

race at the 1974

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. Heffernan won a bronze in the 1977 world professional 5 km individual pursuit. In 1982 Steve Lawrence won the Commonwealth Games

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ( ...

event.

British championship performances

Track

The club won the

in 1973 (bronze), 1974, 1975 and 1976. Steve Heffernan won medals in 1972 (20 km, gold), 1973 (800m grass, gold; 80 km madison, silver), 1974 (individual pursuit, silver; 20 km scratch, bronze), 1975 (individual pursuit, gold; 80 km madison, bronze) and 1976 (individual pursuit, gold; madison, gold). Other prominent track riders include Malcolm Hill (1974 sprint champion), Robin Croker,

Maurice Burton Maurice Burton (28 March 1898 – 9 September 1992) was a British zoologist and popular science author, who produced many natural history encyclopedias and books including a skeptical treatment of the Loch Ness Monster. Early life and educatio ...

, Dave Le Grys, Dave Brotherton, Shaun Fenwick and Keith Pettican.

Road

Alaric Gayfer won the juvenile 10-mile

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

championship in 1972 and the junior 25-mile time trial championship in 1974.

Alf Engers Alfred Robert Engers (born 1 June 1940) is an English former racing cyclist who set national records and won national individual time trial championships from 1959 to the late 1970s. He established a British record of 49 minutes and 24 se ...

won the 25-mile championship in 1974. Dean Butler won the junior 25-mile championship in 1981. In 1979 Canadian

Ron Hayman Ron Hayman (born August 31, 1954) was one of the first Canadian cyclists to turn professional in the late 1970s, inspiring those following like fellow Canadian Alex Stieda. Hayman later became a Canadian cycling coach and entrepreneur, and was r ...

won the

Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. Th ...

for an Archer team named 'London Australia'. His teammate Phil Anderson was second and Shaun Fenwick King of the Mountains.

Colours

The club's colours are white with a yellow chest band and black sleeves.

References

{{reflist Cycling teams established in 1926 Cycling clubs in the United Kingdom 1926 establishments in England Cycling in London