Editing Hubert Opperman (section)

==Death, honours and memorials==
[[File:RochesterStatueHubertOpperman.JPG|thumb|Hubert Opperman's statue in Rochester, Victoria]]

Opperman was appointed an Officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in 1953,<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1109098 |date=1 June 1953 |recipient=Mr Hubert Ferdinand Opperman |award=The Order of the British Empire - Officer (Civil) (Imperial) |postnominal=OBE |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref> and made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in 1968 for his services as High Commissioner to Malta.<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1083649 |date=8 June 1968 |recipient=Mr Hubert Ferdinand Opperman |award=Knight Bachelor (Imperial) |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref>

Opperman continued cycling until he was 90. He lived in a retirement village which, as the British journalist Alan Gayfer pointed out in 1993, had "No Cycling" signs.<ref>Gayfer, Alan, Cycling's First Gentleman, Cycling, UK, 1993, cited Cycling, 4 May 1996, p. 29</ref> Opperman died on an exercise bicycle.

He was voted Europe's most popular sportsman of 1928 by 500,000 readers of the French sporting journal [[L'Auto]], ahead of national tennis champion [[Henri Cochet]]. An obituary said he "ranked alongside [[Don Bradman]] and the race horse [[Phar Lap]] as an Australian sporting idol, but his fame at home proved less durable than theirs, perhaps because he went on to become a politician."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
He won the [[Frederick Thomas Bidlake]] Memorial Prize in 1934 as "the rider whose achievements are deemed the greatest of the year."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Opperman entered the [[Golden Book of Cycling]] on 13 October 1935. This recognised his record-breaking exploits in Australia, and more particularly his 1934 onslaught which took five British records in 14 days.<ref name="Gold Opperman">{{cite web|url=http://thepedalclub.org/archives/hubert-opperman/ |title=The Golden Book of Cycling – Citation for Hubert Opperman.|publisher= Archive maintained by 'The Pedal Club'}}</ref>

Opperman is commemorated every year with the Opperman All Day Trial, an [[Audax (cycling)|Audax]] ride held in Australia in March in which teams of three or more ride a minimum of 360&nbsp;km in 24 hours.
Oppy's racing bicycle, used in his epic crossing from Fremantle to Sydney, was included in a travelling exhibit put on by the national museum. This bike was viewed in Exmouth, WA, in 1979. Citations of his incredible transcontinental speed were reported at 13 days +.
Opperman was inducted into the [[Sport Australia Hall of Fame]] in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/hubert-opperman/|title=Hubert Opperman |publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame|access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref>
The [[City of Knox]], where Opperman spent his last years, dedicated and named several trails and cycle ways around the municipality after races which Opperman won. It has also dedicated an annual bicycle event, The Oppy Family Fun Ride. The ride is part of the Knox Festival each March.

A 'most ancient of berets' worn by Opperman in Europe between 1928 and 1931 is part of the National Museum of Australia's collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/hubert_oppermans_beret|title=Hubert Opperman's beret|publisher=National Museum of Australia|access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>

In 2015, he was an inaugural [[Cycling Australia Hall of Fame]] inductee.<ref name=inugural>{{cite web|title=Inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductees|url=http://www.cycling.org.au/News/All-News/inaugural-cycling-australia-hall-of-fame-inductees|website=Cycling Australia|access-date=12 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100916/http://www.cycling.org.au/News/All-News/inaugural-cycling-australia-hall-of-fame-inductees|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>