The Manx Trophy or Isle of Man International Road Race is a bicycle road race run annually on the

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. In the 1960s the race attracted the world's top professional cyclists including

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champion of Champions ...

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

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 ...

. The race was a feature of the Isle of Man cycling festival, an annual event which ran from 1936 to 2003 and was started by journalist and cycling enthusiast Curwen Clague. The first festival included a massed-start road race (a rarity in mainland Britain at the time but allowed in the Isle of Man, a self-governing crown dependency) which featured the top riders of the day. Despite closed roads the race saw many crashes and only a few riders finished. The first winner was Charles Holland of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, later one of the first two Englishmen to ride 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 first event involved riders racing a single lap of the famous TT circuit of . The course runs from

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

then climbs for to a high point on the mountain of Snaefell at before descending to Douglas. The distance was later increased to two and then three laps (). The Manx Trophy was reintroduced in April 2016 as a one-day race by Manx International Cycling Ltd, named the Manx International Cycling GP, forming part of the British Cycling

Spring Cup The Spring Cup was a Scottish football tournament played in 1976. It was introduced for members of Division One and Two of the Scottish Football League in the wake of league reconstruction in 1975, to be played after the conclusion of all the l ...

over 3 laps of the TT Mountain Circuit, and in 2017 hosted the National Road Race Championships where Steve Cummings won both the National Time Trial and Road Race events. In 2019 the event was relaunched as a 3 day stage race forming part of the HSBC UK, British Cycling National Mens Road Race Series.

Winners (not a complete list)

Manx Trophy/Isle of Man International Road Race

Manx International Cycling GP

References

Notes

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External links

Manx International on veloarchive.com

Cycle races in the Isle of Man Recurring sporting events established in 1936 1936 establishments in the Isle of Man Men's road bicycle races Snaefell Mountain Course Summer events in the Isle of Man