Editing Tom Simpson (section)

==Early life and amateur career==

===Childhood and club racing===
{{Location map+|England|relief=yes|width=170|float=left|alt=Map of England with marks showing location of Haswell and Harworth|caption=At age 12, Simpson moved from [[Haswell, County Durham]], to [[Harworth]] on the Nottinghamshire–Yorkshire border.|places={{Location map~|England|label=Haswell|lat=54.7834|long=-1.4177|position=right}}{{Location map~|England|label=Harworth|lat=53.417|long=-1.075|position=bottom}}}}
Simpson was born on 30 November 1937 in [[Haswell, County Durham]], the youngest of six children of [[Coal mining|coal miner]] Tom Simpson and his wife Alice (née Cheetham).<ref>{{cite web|title=Index entry|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=5Zh%2BA5fY2GgCz9TqtJBGHQ&scan=1|work=[[FreeBMD]]|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]]|location=Newport, UK|access-date=13 May 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=15}} His father had been a semi-professional [[Sprint (running)|sprinter]] in athletics.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=45}} The family lived modestly in a small [[terraced house]] until 1943, when his parents took charge of the village's [[working men's club]] and lived above it.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=45}}{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=15–16}} In 1950 the Simpsons moved to [[Harworth]] on the Nottinghamshire–Yorkshire border, where young Simpson's maternal aunt lived; new coalfields were opening, with employment opportunities for him and older brother Harry, by now, the only children left at home.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=45}}{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=17}} Simpson rode his first bike, his brother-in-law's, at age 12, sharing it with Harry and two cousins for [[Individual time trial|time trials]] around Harworth. Following Harry, Tom joined Harworth & District CC (Cycling Club) aged 13.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=18}}<ref name="don-fp">{{cite news|title=In memory of Harworth's cycling legend, the unique Tom Simpson|url=http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/in-memory-of-harworth-s-cycling-legend-the-unique-tom-simpson-1-508309|access-date=2 June 2015|work=[[Doncaster Free Press]]|publisher=[[Johnston Press]]|date=3 August 2007|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604144647/http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/in-memory-of-harworth-s-cycling-legend-the-unique-tom-simpson-1-508309|archive-date=4 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> He delivered groceries in the [[Bassetlaw District|Bassetlaw district]] by bicycle and traded with a customer for a better road bike.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=18}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=9–11}} He was often left behind in club races; members of his cycling club nicknamed him "four-[[Stone (unit)|stone]] Coppi", after Italian rider [[Fausto Coppi]], due to his slim physique.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=9–11}}

Simpson began winning club time trials, but sensed resentment of his boasting from senior members.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=12–13}} He left Harworth & District and joined [[Rotherham]]'s Scala Wheelers at the end of 1954.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=22–23}}{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=48}} Simpson's first road race was as a junior at the [[Forest Recreation Ground]] in Nottingham.<ref name="remembering">{{cite magazine|title=Remembering Tom Simpson|magazine=[[Cycling Weekly|Cycling]]|location=London|pages=20–21|date=1 January 1977}}</ref>{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=24}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=14–15}} After leaving school he was an apprentice [[technical drawing|draughtsman]] at an engineering company in [[Retford]], using the {{convert|10|mi|1|abbr=on}} commute by bike as training.<ref name="don-fp" />{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=24}} He placed well in half mile races on grass and cement, but decided to concentrate on road racing.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=24}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=14–15}} In May 1955 Simpson won the [[National Cyclists' Union]] South Yorkshire [[individual pursuit]] track event as a junior; the same year, he won the [[British League of Racing Cyclists]] (BLRC) junior [[Hillclimbing (cycling)|hill climb]] championship and placed third in the senior event.<ref name="remembering" />

Simpson immersed himself in the world of cycling, writing letters asking for advice. [[Naturalization|Naturalised]] Austrian rider George Berger responded, travelling from London to Harworth to help him with his riding position.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|pp=50–51}} In late 1955, Simpson ran a red light in a race and was suspended from racing for six months by the BLRC. During his suspension he dabbled in [[motorcycle trials]], nearly quitting cycling but unable to afford a new motorcycle necessary for progress in the sport.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=32–34}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=18–19}}

===Track years===
[[File:Fallowfield stadium, Manchester, 1985.jpg|thumb|alt=Older sports stadium, with football match in progress|In 1956, aged 18, Simpson began track cycling at Manchester's [[Fallowfield Stadium]] (''pictured in 1985'').]]
Berger told Simpson that if he wanted to be a successful road cyclist, he needed experience in [[track cycling]], particularly in the pursuit discipline.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=36}} Simpson competed regularly at [[Fallowfield Stadium]] in Manchester, where in early 1956 he met amateur world pursuit silver medallist [[Cyril Cartwright (cyclist)|Cyril Cartwright]], who helped him develop his technique.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=37–38}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=20–22}} At the national championships at Fallowfield the 18-year-old Simpson won a silver medal in the individual pursuit, defeating amateur world champion [[Norman Sheil]] before losing to [[Mike Gambrill]].<ref name="remembering" />{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=39–41}}

Simpson began working with his father as a draughtsman at the glass factory in Harworth.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=42–43}} He was riding well; although not selected by Great Britain for the amateur [[UCI Track Cycling World Championships|world championships]], he made the 4,000-metre [[Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's team pursuit|team pursuit]] squad for the [[1956 Summer Olympics|1956 Olympics]].{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=43–44}} In mid-September, Simpson competed for two weeks in Eastern Europe against Russian and Italian teams to prepare for the Olympics. The seven-rider contingent began with races in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], continuing to Moscow before finishing in [[Sofia]]. He was nicknamed "the Sparrow" by the Soviet press because of his slender build.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=43–44}} The following month he was in Melbourne for the Olympics, where the team qualified for the team-pursuit semi-finals against Italy; they were confident of defeating South Africa and France but lost to Italy, taking the bronze medal. Simpson blamed himself for the loss for pushing too hard on a turn and being unable to recover for the next.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=49–50}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=25–35}}<ref name=sports-reference>{{cite web|title=Tom Simpson|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/tom-simpson-1.html|work=Sports-Reference.com|publisher=[[Sports Reference]]|access-date=21 May 2013|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204215235/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/tom-simpson-1.html|archive-date=4 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| align = left
| width = 25%
| quote = There was one name on everyone's lips on that day: "Tom Simpson". There was a buzz in the crowd as he began to climb, you could feel it, and I remember this lad with a shock of hair thundering up the hill past me, carried on a solid wave of excitement. The overall feeling that day was that this was the future, this was the man to watch&nbsp;– Tom Simpson.
| source = Spectator Gordon Hill, remembering the 1957 [[British League of Racing Cyclists|BLRC]] national [[Hillclimbing (cycling)|hill climb]] championships.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=54–55}}
}}
After the Olympics, Simpson trained throughout his winter break into 1957.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=51–52}} In May, he rode in the national 25-mile championships; although he was the favourite, he lost to Sheil in the final. In a [[points race]] at an international event at Fallowfield a week later Simpson crashed badly, almost breaking his leg; he stopped working for a month and struggled to regain his form.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=38}} At the national pursuit championships, he was beaten in the quarter-finals.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=54}} After this defeat Simpson returned to road racing, winning the BLRC national hill climb championship in October before taking a short break from racing. In spring 1958 he traveled to Sofia with Sheil for two weeks' racing.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=54–58}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=40}} On his return he won the national individual pursuit championship at [[Herne Hill Velodrome]]. In July, Simpson won a silver medal for England in the [[Cycling at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Men's individual pursuit|individual pursuit]] at the [[1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] in Cardiff, losing to Sheil by one-hundredth of a second in the final.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=43}} A medical exam taken with the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) revealed Simpson to be [[Color blindness|colour blind]].{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=57–58}}

In September 1958, Simpson competed at the amateur world championships in Paris. Against reigning champion [[:it:Carlo Simonigh|Carlo Simonigh]] of Italy in the opening round of the individual pursuit, he crashed on the concrete track at the end of the race. Simpson was briefly knocked unconscious and sustained a dislocated jaw; however, he won the race since he crashed after the finish line. Although he was in pain, team manager Benny Foster forced Simpson to race in the quarter-final against New Zealand's [[Warwick Dalton]], hoping to unsettle Dalton ahead of a possible meeting with Simpson's teammate Sheil.<ref name="remembering" />{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=60–61}} Simpson wanted to turn professional, but needed to prove himself first,{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=44–47}} setting his sights on the world amateur indoor [[hour record]]. [[Reg Harris]] arranged for an attempt at Zürich's [[Hallenstadion]] velodrome on Simpson's birthday in November. He failed by 320 metres, covering a distance of {{convert|43.995|km|3|abbr=on}} and blaming his failure on the low temperature generated by an ice rink in the centre of the velodrome.<ref name="remembering" />{{sfn|Pierre|1967|p=22}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=47–48}} The following week he travelled to [[Ghent]], in the Flanders region of Belgium, to ride amateur track races. He stayed at the Café Den Engel, run by Albert Beurick, who organised for him to ride at Ghent's [[Kuipke]] velodrome in the ''Sportpaleis'' (English: Sport Palace).{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=62–63}}

Simpson decided to move to the continent for a better chance at success,{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=64}} and contacted French brothers Robert and Yvon Murphy, whom he met while racing. They agreed that he could stay with them in the [[Brittany|Breton]] fishing port of [[Saint-Brieuc]].{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=50–51}} His final event in Britain was at Herne Hill, riding [[Motor-paced racing|motor-paced]] races. Simpson won the event and was invited to Germany to train for the 1959 [[UCI Motor-paced World Championships|motor-paced world championships]], but declined the opportunity in favour of a career on the road. Bicycle manufacturer [[Elswick Hopper]] invited him to join their British-based team, but Benny Foster advised him to continue with his plans to move to France.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=65–66}}

===Move to Brittany===
[[File:Gare St-Brieuc Quais.JPG|thumb|alt=Train station with large, domed building and a high-speed train at the platform|In April 1959, 21-year-old Simpson arrived at [[Gare de Saint-Brieuc]] in Brittany ''(pictured in 2011)'' with £100 and the hope of launching his continental professional career.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=55}}]]
In April 1959, Simpson left for France with [[Pound sterling|£]]100 savings and two [[Carlton Cycles|Carlton]] bikes, one road and one track, given in appreciation of his help promoting the company.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=58}}{{sfn|Simpson|2009|pp=54–58}}{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=67}} His last words to his mother before the move were, "I don't want to be sitting here in twenty years' time, wondering what would have happened if I hadn't gone to France".{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=58}} The next day, his [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]] papers were delivered;{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=59}} although willing to serve before his move, he feared the call-up would put his potential career at risk. His mother returned them, with the hope they would understand this.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=85}}{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=84}}

He applied to local cycling clubs, and joined [[:fr:Club olympique briochin|Club Olympique Briochin]], racing with an independent (semi-professional) licence from the [[British Cycling Federation]].{{sfn|Pierre|1967|p=25}}{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=17}} When settled with the Murphy family, 21-year-old Simpson met 19-year-old Helen Sherburn, an [[au pair]] from Sutton, Yorkshire.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=69}} Simpson began attracting attention, winning races and [[criterium]]s. He was invited to race in the eight-day [[Race stage|stage race]] Route de France by the Saint-Raphaël VC 12e,{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|p=68–71}} the amateur club below the professional team {{UCI team code|Saint-Raphaël|1960}}.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=62}} Simpson won the final stage, breaking away from the [[peloton]] and holding on for victory.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=70–71}} After this win, he declined an offer to ride in the [[1959 Tour de France|Tour de France]] for the professional team.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=62}} Simpson had contract offers from two professional teams, {{UCI team code|Mercier|1959}} and {{UCI team code|Saint-Raphaël|1959|nolink=yes}}, which had a British cyclist, [[Brian Robinson (cyclist)|Brian Robinson]]; opting for the latter team, on 29 June he signed a contract for 80,000 [[French franc|francs]] (£80 a month).{{sfn|Fotheringham|2007|p=61}}

On Simpson's return to Harworth for Christmas, the RAF were notified and the press ran stories on his apparent draft avoidance.{{sfn|Sidwells|2000|pp=84–85}} He passed a medical in Sheffield, but history repeated itself and the papers arrived the day after his departure for his team's training camp in [[Narbonne]] in southern France. The French press, unlike the British, found the situation amusing.{{sfn|Simpson|2009|p=78}}