Peter Chisman (8 September 1940 – 23 October 2003) was a British racing cyclist who won the

Tour of Britain 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 ...

- known then as the Milk Race - in 1963. He led the race from beginning to end. He also rode in the

1967 Tour de France The 1967 Tour de France was the 54th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 29 June and 23 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . Thirteen national teams of ten riders competed, with three French ...

Biography

Peter Chisman was born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

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 ...

on 8 September 1940. Pete Chisman was known to friends as Chis. He started his career by winning his first race, a cyclo-cross near

. He rode on a bike borrowed from a friend. That led him to join the Houghton Wheelers club when he was 14. He won six races in 1958, including the junior road race championship of north-east England. He won 12 single-day races and a four-day race in 1960. His amateur wins included the Tour of the Lakes, the White Rose two-day and the Red Rose two-day. He was picked in 1961 for the North of England team in the Milk Race. He won two stages and finished fourth. That brought him promotion to the England team in 1963. He won five stages, including the first, and wore the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

of race leader from beginning to end. He turned professional in 1966 for Raleigh-BMB with

Arthur Metcalfe Arthur Metcalfe (27 September 1938–11 December 2002) was a British racing cyclist who twice rode the Tour de France and, as an amateur remains the only male rider to win the British road race championship and the British Best All-Rounde ...

, John Aslin, Bernard Burns and George Shaw and started 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 ...

the following year. But he never had the same success as he had enjoyed as an amateur and he stopped racing in 1971. He worked as a civil engineer for local councils. Throughout his racing life he was a member of Houghton Wheelers apart from a brief period with Cheviot CC. Chisman never stopped cycling, sometimes riding 180 miles a day. Eight weeks before his death he rode 130 miles from

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to visit his grandchildren. It took him eight hours. Chisman died in hospital in Sunderland on 23 October 2003 after a

prostate The prostate is both an Male accessory gland, accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, ...

operationCycling, 22 November 2003 His racing companion, Dave Thornton, said at his funeral:

We have come to pay our respects to a champion, but more than that, to a modest champion, a quiet unassuming sportsman in the true sense of the word, a true gentleman who was universally respected and liked. Peter will not be forgotten, he will be remembered around the table in our favourite 'tea-stops', as he was last Sunday, and he will be with us in spirit in the high hills, where he battled it out with the best.1963 Milk Race winner Peter Chisman dies
, ''Cycling News'' (7 November 2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisman, Pete English civil engineers English male cyclists Sportspeople from Durham, England 1940 births 2003 deaths