Graham Jones (born 28 October 1957) is a former professional English
road racing cyclist
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...
from
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England. He rode 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
Giro d'Italia. He is often described as one of the classiest riders that Britain has ever produced, but his career was hindered by being over raced in his early days, and by injury in his later days. He is one of the few English-speaking riders to have stood on the podium of the
Flanders Classics
Flanders Classics is an official cooperation among the organizers of the classic cycle races held in Flanders. It was founded in 2009 Het Volk.
Origins
Graham was born in
Cheadle, just south of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. As a youth he was on the books of
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...
as a part of their
youth program
Youth programs are particular activities designed to involve people between the ages of 10 and 25. Activities included are generally oriented towards youth development through recreation, social life, prevention, intervention, or education. During ...
. Graham gave up football in favour of cycling. He took his first step towards becoming a professional cyclist in 1972, age 14 he joined the Abbotsford Park Road cycling club which then had a clubroom in
Fallowfield
Fallowfield is a suburb of Manchester, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 15,211. Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east–west by Wilmslow Road and north–south by Wil ...
, Manchester. During his first year of racing he had no success and was even lapped frequently during the circuit races. It was not until 1974 at 16 years of age he won his first race in
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...
. He was coached by Malcolm Firth, who, along with
Harold "H" Nelson
Harold "H" Nelson BEM (30 January 1928 – 2 July 2016) was a cycling coach credited with helping amateur and professional cycle racing champions.
Nelson started to coach cyclists in 1953. From the early days, his methods are based on care of ...
, developed a training routine based on heart rates and power training. In 1975, as a Junior, he gained three fourth places in national championships (pursuit, road race and 25-mile time-trial) – indeed, the 40 km/25-mile time trial was his first race over the distance for two years and covered the distance in a little over 57 minutes. As well as winning the divisional junior road title, he won the senior pursuit title against the established senior rider, Malcolm Fraser. In his last year as a junior he had 12 wins and also finished 22nd in the World Junior Road Race Championship. In 1976 he went to the
Netherlands
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, established_title = Before independence
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for five months: his best place was 2nd and he had a host of top six places.
Amateur career
In 1977 he won the UK's first classic of the season – the GP of Essex. He then moved to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, along with the
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
rider Nigel Hartle. He won at Anvaing. His form saw him selected for the
Peace Race
The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...
, his first international stage race. The season ended with him being selected to ride in the Etoile Des Espiors (Stars of the future) race in France. He raced against both amateurs and professional riders including
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
, yet proved he could hold his own against anyone, finishing third in a stage. In 1978 he moved to France to ride for the notable amateur team
ACBB (Athletic Club de Boulogne Billencourt), Europe's most successful
sports club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
, following in the footsteps of his friend and training partner
Paul Sherwen
Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...
. He rode in about 65 races, winning 15 of them including the Grand Prix de Nations, Paris-Évreux and the GP de France. International selection included the five-day Sealink International: he won the
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 ...
in his native Manchester. His success in France saw him win the season long Merlin Plage Palme d'Or as the top amateur in France, and this led to him being offered a professional contract with
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
.
Professional career
Graham was one of four new signings among the twenty two riders in the
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
team of 1979 which included
Bernard Thévenet
Bernard Thévenet (; born 10 January 1948) is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is twice a winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-times Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though bo ...
and
Hennie Kuiper
Hendrikus Andreas "Hennie" Kuiper (born 3 February 1949) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic road race at Munich in 1972, becoming world professional road race champion in 1975, a ...
. In his first Professional race the Grand Prix St Raphael, he finished in second place behind Roger Rogiers. A few weeks later, on stage 4 of the Paris Nice he was a part of an elite breakaway which tore the race apart. His undoubted class, however, wasn't allowed to flourish as it might, as he was over-raced by his team. Over the coming seasons, his ability against the watch, in the mountains and as a rouleur won him the respect of the peloton.
Throughout his professional career Graham competed in the majority of prestigious races from 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 ...
to
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 the ...
. However a combination of his loyalty to the team and bad luck restricted his palmares, as he was often used as a domestique to assist French riders who were behind him overall on general classification.
[Rupert McGuinness, op cit] His biggest disappointment was during the 1981
Critérium International
The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...
, he had dropped
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
but on the penultimate descent was knocked off by a press motor cycle. His 1982 season started badly: a training crash caused by ice, whilst out in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, led to a broken femur and this impacted massively on the season ahead. However, in 1982 he still managed arguably his greatest performance finishing second in the
Flanders Classics
Flanders Classics is an official cooperation among the organizers of the classic cycle races held in Flanders. It was founded in 2009 Het Volk. He caught and dropped the breakaway group that included
Sean Kelly 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 ...
. However he did not manage to catch the eventual winner
Alfons De Wolf
Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
He was forecast, with Daniel ...
, finishing 26 seconds behind.
In 1985 he returned home to Britain, riding with
John Herety
John P Herety (born 8 March 1958) is a former English racing cyclist. He rode for Great Britain in the Olympic Games and won the national road championship as a professional. He is currently manager of the cycling team, and occasionally provid ...
in the British-based professional Ever Ready /Marlboro team. One year later, Graham moved to the British
ANC-Halfords team, riding alongside
Joey McLoughlin
Joey McLoughlin (born 3 December 1964) is an English former professional cyclist from Liverpool. He grew up on the Cantril Farm housing estate in Liverpool, the youngest of 11 children.
As a child and teenager, he was a neighbour of many peopl ...
,
Paul Watson
Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental movement, environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine c ...
and
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 ...
.
ANC-Halfords were managed by
Phil Griffiths and became a surprise inclusion in the 1987
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 ...
. The team suffered from a shortage of funding, and riders not knowing how to work as a team in a major Tour: as the grandee of the team, Graham tried to bring a professional approach to both the management and the riders
['Wide-eyed and legless', Jeff Connor, 1988, Sportspages] Unfortunately, Graham was too exhausted to finish his final Tour. He then had a few rides the following season for Emmelle-MBK riding alongside
Mark Bell. However his full-time career as a professional rider effectively ended with
ANC-Halfords.
Post-cycling career
Since his retirement from the
peloton
In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...
, Graham has worked for a bike company (Emmelle) and still works as a
commentator for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. He's a regular on the
, his former teammate and good friend.
;1976
: 5th Criterium des Vainqueurs
;1977
:1st GP of Essex
:1st Mike Tyzack Memorial
:1st Circuit of Ashurst
:1st Tielt Criterium
:1st Anvaing criterium
:6th Scottish Milk Race
:38th World Road Race Championship
:40th
(6th on stage 9)
;1978
:1st Prologue Time Trial, Sealink International
:1st GP de Toulon
:1st Paris-Evreux
:1st Paris–Troyes
:1st GP de St Maxime
:1st Paris-Vierzon
:1st GP de France
:1st GP de Nations
:1st Palme d'Or Merlin Plage
:2nd Tour de Haut Var
:2nd Paris – Ezy
;1979
:2nd GP St Raphael
:7th GP Pino Cerami
:18th