David John Rayner (born 4 March 1967, Shipley,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

- 16 November 1994,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

) was an

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professional racing cyclist who died aged 27 after an incident outside the Maestro nightclub, in Manningham Lane, Bradford. He was put on a life support machine at Bradford Royal Infirmary but died the next day.

Cycling career

Rayner joined his first club, East Bradford CC, at 12 in 1979. He then joined the Bradford Wheelers -

Ellis Briggs Ellis Briggs is a British bicycle manufacturer and shop, based in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England. It is the oldest bicycle shop in the Bradford area still in business today. Ellis Briggs have produced lightweight bicycles since 1936 and contin ...

- Saturne in 1984, and won the national junior road race championships at Stoke on Trent. Early in 1984, he moved to Italy, joining the G.S.Porcari-Fanini-Berti Team, with which he stayed until 1986. Rayner competed in the junior world championship in 1985. After winning the under-22 award in the

Milk Race The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

in 1987, he turned professional for Interent-Yugo in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. In 1988 he joined Raleigh-Banana, won the under-22 award again in the Milk Race, and came eighth overall. Next year he won the under-22 award for a record third year running. He joined Banana-Falcon in 1990 and in won the Scottish Provident Criterium Series . Rayner moved to 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 ...

in 1991 to ride for Buckler under former world champion

Jan Raas Jan Raas (born 8 November 1952) is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg, he also won the Tour of Flanders in 1979 and 1983, Paris–Roubaix in 1982 and Milan–San Remo in ...

. He joined I.M.E.-Health Share in 1993, moving to the United States. He returned to Britain in 1994 after an unsuccessful year and joined Lex-Townsend, coming second in the national criterium championships in Milford Haven.

Death

Rayner died following an altercation with a bouncer, Steven Barry Johnson, at a nightclub in Bradford, in November 1994. Johnson was charged with manslaughter but, when the case came to court on 18 November 1995, the judge decided that there was not enough evidence to charge him with manslaughter and, having already pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault, Johnson was instead put on probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

Memorial fund

The Dave Rayner Fund was set up in his memory on 12 January 1995, to help riders make a career from racing on the continent. A plaque and seat in his memory were unveiled at

Gargrave Gargrave is a large village and civil parish in the Craven district located along the A65, north-west of Skipton in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

on 9 July the same year. The first Rayners Ride around the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

was held on 10 September and the first Dave Rayner dinner was held at Norfolk Gardens, Bradford on 4 November. Guests at the dinner were the comedian

Tony Capstick Joseph Anthony Capstick (27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003) was an English comedian, actor, musician and broadcaster. Life and career First son of Joe Capstick, a wireless operator in the RAF, and his wife, June, née Duncan, he was born in Roth ...

, journalist John Morgan and Keith Audas. This dinner has become an annual event with guests such as Miguel Indurain,

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

attending.

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...

became the first beneficiary of the fund. He went on to turn professional with

Cofidis Cofidis is a French company, now majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, based in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses International in cooperation with Cetelem, Cofidis specialized in the consumer credit business of the 3 Suisses Group. I ...

. More recent beneficiaries who have joined the professional peloton include Adam Yates and Dan McLay.

Palmarès

;1985 :14th Junior World Road Race Championships :5th Junior World Team Time Trial Championships, Stuttgart ;1987 :1st Under 22 award,

;1988 :8th Overall,

::1st Under 22 award,

;1989 :8th Overall,

::1st Under 22 award,

;1990 :1st Scottish Provident Criterium Series ;1991 :57th Overall,

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 ...

;1994 :2nd

British National Circuit Race Championships The British National Circuit Race Championships cover several different categories of British road bicycle racing events, normally held annually. The first championships were held in 1979 for professional cyclists only. Amateur championships were ...

References

External links

Dave Rayner Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Dave 1967 births 1994 deaths Cyclists from Yorkshire Sportspeople from Shipley, West Yorkshire