Ernest J Clements (28 February 1922 – 3 February 2006) was an English road racing cyclist, frame builder and cycle shop owner.

Biography

Born in Hadley,

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, Clements was one of the leaders in the introduction of massed start road races to

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 ...

, initially as a rider and later as a sponsor. He won the BLRC British national road race championship in 1943 and 1945, and came second in 1944. Riders who competed in BLRC races were banned from competing in NCU races, but Clements managed to circumvent the ban; he won the NCU national road championship in 1946 and come second in 1948. If Clements had not been a member of the NCU, he would not have been considered to ride the world amateur road championship in 1946, nor the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

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 ...

. At the latter event, he won a silver medal as part of the team in the road race - alongside team mates Bob Maitland, Gordon Thomas and Ian Scott. Clements also won the first stage of the

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

race in 1951. Note - possible inaccuracies: The 1946

race programme states that E A (Ernie) Clements won the first stage of the 1945

race. This also indicates that Ernie Clements was Ernest A rather than Ernest J Clements. This is supported by the Register of Births for England and Wales which lists an Ernest A Clements as being registered in the March quarter of 1922 in the Wellington District of Shropshire. In 1947, there was a proposal that he turn professional should Britain send a team to 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 ...

. Clements declined and in the event no team was sent anyway. Clements said he turned down the chance because he did not wish to relinquish his amateur status in Britain.''Worcester News''

10 February 2006 At the time, cyclists in Britain were unable to return to amateur status once they had been professionals. This proved restrictive for many professional cyclists, who at the end of their careers were unable to return to competing at a lower level purely for enjoyment. Clements was born in Hadley,

but spent the majority of his early years at

Old Park Old Park ( ta, பழைய பூங்கா ''Paḻaiya Pūṅkā'') is a 27 acre urban park in the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. It was originally built in the 19th century as the gardens and grounds of the residency of the British G ...

where he later opened a cycle shop. He became a frame builder and managed

Falcon Cycles Falcon Cycles is a British bicycle manufacturer which was based in Brigg, North Lincolnshire, owned by Tandem Group. History In the 1880s, Hotchkiss, Mayo & Meek Ltd was established in Coventry as a manufacturer of bicycles. In 1897, the c ...

in the 1950s, and up to the 1970s. His last address was in

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

where, aged 67 in 1990, he opened Clements Cycles to keep in touch with cycling. He died in Malvern Community Hospital,

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dra ...

, aged 83 on 5 February 2006, having suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

for several years.

In memoriam

His death was announced in the

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is a British cycling magazine. It is published by Future and is devoted to the sport and pastime of cycling. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".

magazine through a paid small-ad. It said: :CLEMENTS - ERNEST. (cycle trader and former road racing champion) died peacefully on February 3rd 2006. Aged 83 years. Husband of Rosemary and father of Edward. A quiet family funeral will take place. Details of a memorial service to follow.

Memorial race

In his memory, the annual Ernie Clements Memorial two-day stage race is organised by Rob Finch on behalf of the LVRC League of Veteran Racing Cyclists, with separate races for riders aged 40–54 and 55 and over. There are two stages in the first day of racing, a short

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

(1.36 miles in 2007) and a

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

(27 miles in 2007), the third stage, on the second day, is a Road race (64/48 miles in 2007).Ernie Clements Memorial, results on LVRC website
/ref>

Palmarès

;1943 :1st BLRC British National Road Race Championship :1st Tour of the Peak (1st edition) ;1944 :1st 2nd Tour of the Peak :2nd BLRC national road race championship ;1945 :1st BLRC national road race championship ;1946 :1st NCU national road race championship :1948 :2nd Silver medal olympic

Team Road Race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

:2nd NCU national road race championship ;1951 :1as Stage 1, from

stage race

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Ernie 1922 births 2006 deaths English male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1948 Summer Olympics British cycling road race champions People from Ledbury People from Telford