Cyril Francis Peacock (19 July 1929 – 31 December 1992) was a British amateur racing cyclist who was world champion in 1954.Sports123, http://sports123.com/tcy/mw-spra.html He was also national sprint champion in 1952, 1953 and 1954 and was the

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 ...

champion in 1954.

Biography

Adolescence

Cyril Peacock took up cycle-racing when he was 15 and working as a scientific surgical instrument maker.The Bicycle, UK, 1 April 1953, p21 in south London. He met a friend, Charlie Whitbourn, who suggested he join the Kingston Road Club. He was a member for two years before he rode his first race. His first track, or

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

, race was at Slough, west of London, on 22 June 1947. He came third. That September he won his first race, the National Cyclists' Union junior medal competition at

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, central London. He joined the army for compulsory

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

at the end of the year and spent two years as a physical training instructor but did not ride a bike. Until then he had raced on the track on a road bike stripped of brakes and gears. He bought his first true track machine from money saved while with the Army.

Early career

Peacock rejoined Kingston Road Club and rode the 1951 national sprint championship, where he was beaten in the quarterfinal by

Lloyd Binch Lloyd Binch (28 March 1931 – 15 December 2016) was a British cyclist. Career He competed in the sprint event at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also represented England and won a bronze medal in the 1,000m match sprint at the 1958 British E ...

of Nottingham. The news magazine ''The Bicycle'' wrote: "The last meeting of 1951, the NCU Meeting of Champions, provided a first-class sensation. In the Robbialac Bowl sprint, he was in a disputed finish with Jan Hijselendoorn of Holland, who almost fell on Peacock as they reached the line. Peacock lost the decision - but he gained a lot of admiration." In 1952, by then a member of the

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

Bicycle Club in south London and on 5 July won the British sprint championship, at

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borou ...

. That brought selection for Britain in the Olympic Games in

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; he came fourth of 27 behind Enzo Sacchi of Italy, Lionel Cox of Australia and Werner Putzenheim of Germany. In 1953 he won the £1,000 International Champion of Champions sprint, again at

, on Good Friday 1953; he was the first Englishman to win it He also beat the French champion, André Beyney, in France. Peacock won the national championship again in 1953 and 1954, the Robbialac Bowl in 1952, 1953 and 1954, and the Champion of Champions sprint again in 1953. In 1954 he won the world championship in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany, beating John Tressider of Australia and Roger Gaignard of France. Another Briton,

Reg Harris Reginald Hargreaves Harris OBE (1 March 1920 – 22 June 1992) was a British track racing cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint title in 1947, two Olympic silver medals in 1948, and the professional title in 19 ...

, won the professional championship. They were the last British winners before Chris Hoy in 2008. Peacock and Harris featured on

Player's John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

cigarette cards Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible cards with their packages of cigarett ...

in 1957. He represented

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 won a gold medal in the Track 1000m Match Sprint at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada.

Professional

Peacock became a professional for

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

in January 1955 . In March he was awarded the Bidlake Memorial Plaque for service to cycling .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Cyril Francis 1929 births 1992 deaths English male cyclists Sportspeople from Fulham Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1952 Summer Olympics UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling English track cyclists Cyclists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games