Les West
Encyclopedia
Les West was one of the dominant figures of amateur and professional cycling in Britain during the 1960 and 1970s. He won the Milk Race twice, came second in the world amateur road race championship and fourth in the world professional championship.
, when he was 15. He went with his uncle. The following year he joined the Tunstall
Wheelers, a club in the Stoke-on-Trent
conglomeration of towns in Staffordshire
. He won the North Staffordshire 25-mile time-trial championship when he was 16. He beat one hour for 25 miles in 1961 and won North Staffordshire championships at 10, 25, 30 and 50 miles, won the area track league and became five-mile and 4,000m pursuit
champion.
His first international selection was for the Olympia's Tour, the amateur Tour of Holland, in 1964. He was unplaced.
for the first time in 1965, riding as a late selection for the Midlands. His local bike shop owner jokingly promised him a free bike if he won. West said: "I remember seeing my first Milk Race in Chester
. I was about 16. It impressed me. And never did I imagine that I'd ride. My first one was in 1965 and I won it. Circumstances!" He won the points competition as well but he won overall, he says, only because several riders, including a leading Spaniard, were thrown out in the race's first positive dope tests.Luis Santamarina won the stage of the 1965 Tour of Britain
which started at Scarborough and crossed Rosedale Chimney. He rode away from the race on one of the race's hardest climbs before colliding with the back of a car parked beside the road as an official waited to time him. He remounted and won the stage and led the race. Two days later he and three others were disqualified for doping, and the Spanish team went home. West's prizes for winning were a gold watch and a combined radiogram and cocktail cabinet.
That year he beat the national hour record, set a 25-mile time-trial record, won the Tour of the Cotswolds next day, won the national road championship and came second in the Isle of Man
International.
In 1966 West lived in Holland, riding round-the-houses races. He said: "Fantastic, that was. Very, very fast." He rode Olympia's Tour, the amateur Tour of Holland, which he said averaged 29 mph. "But Holland left me legless for the climbs on the Milk Race" and he came sixth. "To me, that was nothing", he said.
That autumn he finished second to Evert Dolman
of Holland in the world championship on the Nürburgring
circuit in Germany. The two had slipped clear of the field but West cramped in the sprint. He has refused to speak further of Dolman, going little further than saying "Well, he didn't ride exactly clean. At the end he told me so. Let's just say things were not right." Keith Bingham, writing in Cycling Weekly went further when he spoke of a rider so ill through the drugs he had taken that he no longer recognised journalists he had known for years. The description approaches Dolman, who was caught for doping as a professional. Dolman said "I couldn't win races without that stuff, that was obvious."
West said an official from the British Cycling Federation approached him after the championship and said: "Good ride, son. What's your name?" West was to have joined Jacques Anquetil
's Bic
team, at the recommendation of British professional Vin Denson
, but his contract didn't arrive and he stayed in Britain.
West won the Milk Race again in 1967, in what Keith Bingham of Cycling Weekly described as "astonishing style."
in Mexico in 1968. He punctured early, waited for the mechanics in the service car behind the last rider, changed bikes twice, chased for 30 miles and gave up. The writer Clement Freud
said West was so depressed that he hadn't noticed he was sitting on his banana sandwiches. He turned professional for the Holdsworth
team, managed by a shopkeeper called Roy Thame in west London. It paid no more than he had been winning as an amateur, he said, but there were compensations.
His first win was the Tour of the Isle of Wight
, held over three days at Easter. "That's my first pro win and probably my last", he said. He had four more wins and came second nine times.
His best international performance was fourth in the world championship in 1970, held in Leicester
, England. West got into the winning break with Jempi Monseré of Belgium, Leif Mortensen
and the Italian Felice Gimondi
. Monseré won and West came fourth, troubled once more by cramp in the sprint. West won the British championship, broke the London-Portsmouth
, London-Bath-London records, won the Tour of the Peaks and then in 1978 retired as a professional.
The rule was that professionals had to have a season out of racing before the British Cycling Federation would consider a return to the amateur. West said: "The BCF punished you.... You'd be surprised by how much form and interest you lost. If you'd turned professional it was like you had a disease in them days. So that was it, such is life." He regretted that amateurs and professionals had not been allowed to ride together. He said: "A few years after I'd packed up racing, they let the pros ride the Milk Race, which could never have happened in the 1970s. It seemed like my generation were punished in that way, and it's a shame because it would have been good all round if we could have ridden it."
He started racing again, as an amateur, in 1980, rode for two years, then retired.
In September 2006, West became national champion of the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists. He was 64.
Early career
Born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England, West's first ride was to DanebridgeWincle
Wincle is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire. The parish contains the village of Danebridge, which is larger than the village of Wincle itself. It holds parish meetings rather than parish council meetings.-External links:...
, when he was 15. He went with his uncle. The following year he joined the Tunstall
Tunstall, Staffordshire
Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....
Wheelers, a club in the Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
conglomeration of towns in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. He won the North Staffordshire 25-mile time-trial championship when he was 16. He beat one hour for 25 miles in 1961 and won North Staffordshire championships at 10, 25, 30 and 50 miles, won the area track league and became five-mile and 4,000m pursuit
Pursuit
Pursuit may refer to:In aircraft:*Rans S-11 Pursuit, lifting body style light aircraft designIn cars:*Pontiac G5, formerly called Pontiac PursuitIn film and television:*Pursuit , a 1950s anthology...
champion.
His first international selection was for the Olympia's Tour, the amateur Tour of Holland, in 1964. He was unplaced.
International amateur
West rode the Milk Race, the Tour of BritainTour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain....
for the first time in 1965, riding as a late selection for the Midlands. His local bike shop owner jokingly promised him a free bike if he won. West said: "I remember seeing my first Milk Race in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
. I was about 16. It impressed me. And never did I imagine that I'd ride. My first one was in 1965 and I won it. Circumstances!" He won the points competition as well but he won overall, he says, only because several riders, including a leading Spaniard, were thrown out in the race's first positive dope tests.Luis Santamarina won the stage of the 1965 Tour of Britain
Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain....
which started at Scarborough and crossed Rosedale Chimney. He rode away from the race on one of the race's hardest climbs before colliding with the back of a car parked beside the road as an official waited to time him. He remounted and won the stage and led the race. Two days later he and three others were disqualified for doping, and the Spanish team went home. West's prizes for winning were a gold watch and a combined radiogram and cocktail cabinet.
That year he beat the national hour record, set a 25-mile time-trial record, won the Tour of the Cotswolds next day, won the national road championship and came second in the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
International.
In 1966 West lived in Holland, riding round-the-houses races. He said: "Fantastic, that was. Very, very fast." He rode Olympia's Tour, the amateur Tour of Holland, which he said averaged 29 mph. "But Holland left me legless for the climbs on the Milk Race" and he came sixth. "To me, that was nothing", he said.
That autumn he finished second to Evert Dolman
Evert Dolman
Evert Gerardus Dolman was a Dutch racing cyclist, who won the gold medal in the men's 100 km team trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, alongside Gerben Karstens, Bart Zoet, and Jan Pieterse...
of Holland in the world championship on the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
circuit in Germany. The two had slipped clear of the field but West cramped in the sprint. He has refused to speak further of Dolman, going little further than saying "Well, he didn't ride exactly clean. At the end he told me so. Let's just say things were not right." Keith Bingham, writing in Cycling Weekly went further when he spoke of a rider so ill through the drugs he had taken that he no longer recognised journalists he had known for years. The description approaches Dolman, who was caught for doping as a professional. Dolman said "I couldn't win races without that stuff, that was obvious."
West said an official from the British Cycling Federation approached him after the championship and said: "Good ride, son. What's your name?" West was to have joined Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil 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...
's Bic
BIC
-Places:* Le bic, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada** Bic National Park, Quebec nationa located near the village of Le bic. See List of Quebec national parks* Bîc River, Moldova* Bic, a village administered by Şimleu Silvaniei town, Sălaj County, Romania...
team, at the recommendation of British professional Vin Denson
Vin Denson
Vin Denson is a former professional racing cyclist who rode the Tour de France, won a stage of the Giro d'Italia and won the Tour of Luxembourg in the 1960s. He was a team-mate of Rik van Looy and of Jacques Anquetil and, in the Tour de France, of Tom Simpson...
, but his contract didn't arrive and he stayed in Britain.
West won the Milk Race again in 1967, in what Keith Bingham of Cycling Weekly described as "astonishing style."
Professional
Professional racing had developed in Britain but West held on for the Olympic GamesOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Mexico in 1968. He punctured early, waited for the mechanics in the service car behind the last rider, changed bikes twice, chased for 30 miles and gave up. The writer Clement Freud
Clement Freud
Sir Clement Raphael Freud was an English broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.-Early life:Freud was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish parents Ernst Ludwig Freud and Lucie née Brasch. He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud...
said West was so depressed that he hadn't noticed he was sitting on his banana sandwiches. He turned professional for the Holdsworth
Holdsworth
Holdsworth was a bicycle manufacturer in London, United Kingdom. It was created by William Frank Holdsworth, known as Sandy. -Beginnings:...
team, managed by a shopkeeper called Roy Thame in west London. It paid no more than he had been winning as an amateur, he said, but there were compensations.
His first win was the Tour of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, held over three days at Easter. "That's my first pro win and probably my last", he said. He had four more wins and came second nine times.
His best international performance was fourth in the world championship in 1970, held in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, England. West got into the winning break with Jempi Monseré of Belgium, Leif Mortensen
Leif Mortensen
Leif Mortensen is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :196719681969...
and the Italian Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist.With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France , Giro...
. Monseré won and West came fourth, troubled once more by cramp in the sprint. West won the British championship, broke the London-Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, London-Bath-London records, won the Tour of the Peaks and then in 1978 retired as a professional.
The rule was that professionals had to have a season out of racing before the British Cycling Federation would consider a return to the amateur. West said: "The BCF punished you.... You'd be surprised by how much form and interest you lost. If you'd turned professional it was like you had a disease in them days. So that was it, such is life." He regretted that amateurs and professionals had not been allowed to ride together. He said: "A few years after I'd packed up racing, they let the pros ride the Milk Race, which could never have happened in the 1970s. It seemed like my generation were punished in that way, and it's a shame because it would have been good all round if we could have ridden it."
He started racing again, as an amateur, in 1980, rode for two years, then retired.
Veteran cycling
West returned to cycling in the veteran class, and remarked on the fact that he was remembered by older neighbours in Stoke-on-Trent but not by others. In 2003 he dominated the national masters' championship in WarwickshireWarwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
In September 2006, West became national champion of the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists. He was 64.