Steve Joughin (born 23 June 1959) is a former professional

Manx Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man: * Manx people **Manx surnames * Isle of Man It may also refer to: Languages * Manx language, also known as Manx ...

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 ...

. He was the first Manxman ever win the British professional road race title. He is arguably one of the best UK riders of his generation, riding in the 1980s.

Cycling career

His first cycling race as a youngster was around King Georges Park in Douglas racing in jeans and trainers. However he enjoyed the camaraderie of racing and soon joined the Manx Road Club. By the age of 16 he realised he had talent and won the

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

divisional road race championships in 1976 and 1977. He then became the first Manx rider to win the national junior road race series and the British Junior Road race championship. In 1978 he competed in the individual road race at 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 ...

, finishing 27th after crashing on the final lap. The

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

was won by Phil Anderson. The race featured in a National Film Board of Canada documentary about cycle racing called 'Cycling: Still The Greatest' (https://www.nfb.ca/film/cycling/). The documentary also features footage of Joughin (then an amateur rider who was still working full-time in a garage) training in the Isle of Man. In 1980 he won the

Premier Calendar The British Cycling Premier Calendar Road Race Series is a season-long competition run by British Cycling. It comprises a series of road bicycle races for the country's top domestic road riders. Organisation and events In 2010 points were awar ...

series, whilst riding for the all conquering

Manchester Wheelers' Club Manchester Wheelers' Club is a cycling club in Manchester, in north-west England. Formation and early history The club was formed on 7 July 1883, as Manchester Athletic Bicycle Club, the name being changed to Manchester Wheelers' Club in 1890. Th ...

. However he missed out on selection for the

1980 Moscow Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. At the end of the 1980 season Joughin decided he would spend the 1981 season living and racing in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

However he did not settle and was back within a few months. As he was not prepared to live in a hovel scratching around trying to win races in the hope of being offered a professional contract. Instead he opted to live and race in the UK, now and again beating the big stars when they came over. The following season he again won the

series and competed at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. However the highlight was arguably winning a Stage in the Sealink International after outsprinting

Dirk De Wolf Dirk De Wolf (born 16 January 1961 in Aalst, East Flanders) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. Cycling career In 1982 at the age of 23 De Wolf won the Sealink International and finished 8th at the World Road Championsh ...

, the eventual race winner. He was also third in the British National Road Race Championships, the race was won by Jeff Williams. Joughin then turned professional in 1983, aged 23, with the Moducel team which was based in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. In only his second season as a professional he won the British National Road Race Championships in 1984. The race was held on the home soil for Joughin, in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

and attracted huge crowds. Joughin was in chasing group which caught the main breakaway within sight of the finish. Joughin launched his sprint with 250 metres to go, went past Malcolm Elliott, and then past Bill Nickson just 50 metres from the line. In 1986 Joughin won two stages of 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 ...

leaving behind Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. After four seasons with Moducel he joined Percy Bilton riding alongside

Bob Downs Robert Downs (born 24 July 1955) is a former English professional cyclist from Basildon, Essex. Cycling career He won the Sealink International in 1980 and competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the Men's 100 kilometres Team Time Trial. He ...

and

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 ...

. That same season he had arguably his greatest ever victory winning stage three in the 1987 Kellogg's Tour of Britain from Manchester to Birmingham, beating some of the biggest names in the sport of cycling such as Sean Kelly. Joughin got into a breakaway and then went clear with Stuart Coles as the race approached Perry Barr on the outskirts of Birmingham. The pair stayed clear of the field all the way to the finish line in Victoira Square in Birmingham city centre, with Joughin winning the sprint comfortabl
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bPb3mlkqMM
In 1988 he had one season riding for Ever Ready alongside Tony Doyle and again won the British National Road Race Championships in Newport, Shropshire. However, after just one season he returned to Percy Bilton riding alongside Paul Curran. After notching up 200 wins as an amateur and 80 as pro Joughin retired from racing in 1991. His last season was riding for K.J.C. - Revelation. Joughin showed that he could beat some of the fastest men in the world in bunch sprints. However, it's misleading to pigeon-hole him as purely a sprinter - most of his big wins came from sprinting to victory after going clear in breakaways, including his wins in the 1987 Kellogg’s Tour of Britain and in the British Road Race Championship in 1984 and 1988.

Post-cycling career

Today Joughin lives in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Staffordshire, where he has run his cycle clothing business, Pro Vision, along with his son Ben, since 1996.

Major results

;1976 :1st Merseyside Divisional Road Race Championships ;1977 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Junior Road Championships : 1st Merseyside Divisional Road Race Championships : 1st National Junior Road Race Series ;1980 : 1st Overall

: 1st GP Essex ;1981 : 1st Tour of the Peak : 1st Stage 1

;1982 : 1st Overall

: 1st

Archer Grand Prix The Archer Grand Prix was part of the British Cycling Premier Calendar. History The Archer Grand Prix was run annually for over fifty years, organised by Stuart Benstead of the Archer Road Club (although Stuart Cook organised the last two even ...

: 1st Stage 2a Sealink International : 3rd Road race, National Amateur Road Championships : 7th Road race,

;1984 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships ;1986 :

::1st Stages 1 & 12 : 2nd National Criterium Championships : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1987 : 1st Stage 3 Kellogg's Tour ;1988 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships ;1989 : 1st Stage 6 Kellogg's Tour

References

External links

* *
Pro-Vision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joughin, Steve 1959 births Living people Manx male cyclists Sportspeople from Stoke-on-Trent British cycling road race champions Cyclists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for the Isle of Man