Barry Hoban (born 5 February 1940) is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins 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 ...

by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 and 1975. He holds the record (now shared with David Millar) for the most Tours completed by a British rider – having finished 11 of the 12 he started between 1965 and 1978. He was also the first Briton to win two consecutive stages of the Tour (a feat matched by

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a ...

in 2008, twice in 2009 and once in 2010, and by Geraint Thomas in 2018).

Early career

Hoban started cycle racing in 1955, joining Calder Clarion, and by the end of the year was competing against

Tom Simpson Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager ...

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

s. Two years later, he was fourth in the

British League of Racing Cyclists The British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC) was an association formed in 1942 to promote road bicycle racing in Great Britain. It operated in competition with the National Cyclists' Union, a rivalry which lasted until the two merged in 1959 to ...

hill-climb (the senior title being won by Simpson). Despite his early prowess as a climber, Hoban later established himself as one of Europe's best sprinters. Inspired by the European successes of fellow Yorkshireman Brian Robinson and of Simpson, Hoban went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1962, turned professional two years later, and stayed abroad for another 16 years. He rode for Mercier-Hutchinson-BP where his team leader was Raymond Poulidor who is famous for coming second three times in the Tour de France but never winning. Hoban was single then and used to come back to Wakefield for the winter with a case full of used shorts/jerseys etc. and sell them to the local riders (it wasn't easy then to get good quality kit and what was available was expensive). Dozens of riders in the BCF West Yorks division had a pair of shorts with Mercier Hutchinson embroidered on the legs. Back then, the best frames were hand-built British ones and Maurice Woodrup, a Leeds frame builder, would have a new frame sprayed Mercier pink waiting for him each year. He would take it back to have Mercier transfers attached. In the 1967 Tour de France, after the

death of Tom Simpson Tom Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was a British professional cyclist, one of Britain's most successful of all time. At the time of the 1967 Tour de France, he was the undisputed leader of the British team. In the 13th stage o ...

, Hoban won the next stage. Two years later, in 1969, Hoban married Simpson's widow, with whom he has a daughter Daniella, and two stepdaughters Jane and Joanne.

Major Results

;1963 : 10th Overall Paris–Luxembourg ;1964 :

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

::1st Stages 12 & 13 : 1st Stage 3

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation co ...

: 2nd

Circuit des Frontières The Circuit des Frontières was a one-day road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road ...

: 9th

Genoa–Nice Genoa–Nice was a professional cycle race held as a single-day race between Genoa, Italy and Nice, France. It was first held in 1910 and held for the final time in 1975. In 1961 and 1962 it was part of the Super Prestige Pernod The Super P ...

;1966 : 1st Eschborn–Frankfurt : 1st Stage 2a Tour de l'Oise : 5th Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been ...

;1967 : 1st Stage 14

: 2nd

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 ...

: 5th

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and orga ...

: 7th

Dwars door België Dwars door Vlaanderen ''( en, Across Flanders)'' is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI W ...

;1968 : 1st Stage 19

: 2nd Overall Tour de l'Oise : 2nd

Grand Prix de Denain Grand Prix de Denain is a professional cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions whi ...

: 9th GP Fayt-le-Franc : 10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège ;1969 :

::1st Stages 18 & 19 : 1st Stage 1b

: 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège : 7th

: 9th Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke : 9th Ronde van Limburg ;1970 : 1st

Manx Trophy The Manx Trophy or Isle of Man International Road Race is a bicycle road race run annually on the Isle of Man. In the 1960s the race attracted the world's top professional cyclists including Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx. Th ...

: 2nd

: 5th Grand Prix de Fourmies : 6th Bordeaux–Paris : 7th Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 7th

De Kustpijl De Kustpijl is a cycling race held annually in Belgium. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expan ...

;1971 : 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies : 1st Stage 5b

: 2nd Overall Tour de l'Oise : 6th

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season ...

: 10th Overall Tour de Luxembourg ;1972 : 3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg : 3rd

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

: 8th

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

: 9th

;1973 :

::1st Stages 11 & 19 : 10th Overall

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour in the second half of Ma ...

;1974 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 1b & 3 : 1st

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the To ...

: 1st

: 1st Stage 13

: 2nd Overall Tour de l'Aude ::1st Stage 3 : 4th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 unt ...

: 10th Overall

;1975 : 1st Stage 8

: 10th Overall

;1978 : 2nd Grand Prix Pino Cerami : 5th Overall

::1st Stage 5b : 10th Overall Tour de l'Oise ;1980 : 8th

Nokere Koerse Nokere Koerse is a European semi classic single day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Starting in 2016 it was a 1.HC event. The Nokere Koerse was ...

Tour de France Stage Wins

*1967 - Stage 14 - Carpentras – Sète – Hoban was allowed to win after the death of

on the previous stage. *1968 - Stage 19 - Grenoble – Sallanches – a rarity in that Hoban won a mountain stage, not a sprint. *1969 - Stage 18 - Mourenx – Bordeaux *1969 - Stage 19 - Bordeaux - Brive-la-Gaillarde – the first Briton to win successive stages of the Tour. *1973 – Stage 11 - Montpellier - Argelès-sur-Mer *1973 - Stage 19 - Bourges – Versaille *1974 - Stage 13 - Avignon – Montpellier *1975 - Stage 8 - Angoulême - Bordeaux

Other career highlights

He competed in the team pursuit at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. Hoban also won two stages of the

1964 Vuelta a España The 19th ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 30 April to 16 May 1964. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of , and was won by Raymond Poulidor of the Merc ...

and the 1974 Gent–Wevelgem, where he finished ahead of

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

and

Roger De Vlaeminck Roger De Vlaeminck (; born 24 August 1947) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed “The Gypsy” because he was bo ...

. In the ’Monument’ Classics, his best performances were third places in Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1969) and

(1972). Towards the end of a career spent largely in mainland

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, Hoban occasionally returned to the UK to race; he won the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

race and was second in the British professional road-race championship in 1979, and he won the Grand Prix of Manchester in 1980. At least one bicycle was made with his name on it, including ''Barry Hoban''-badged frames made by Coventry Cycles (later trading as

Coventry Eagle Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

). This is a common practice of retired racing cyclists. Hoban lives in Mid-Wales after moving there to work with the factory that built his frames. In 2009 he was inducted into the

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 one people involved in cycling to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame wer ...

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Barry Hoban
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoban, Barry 1940 births Living people Sportspeople from Wakefield Cyclists from Yorkshire British Tour de France stage winners British Vuelta a España stage winners Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Cyclists at the 1960 Summer Olympics

Early career

Major Results

Tour de France Stage Wins

Other career highlights

References

Further reading

External links