Editing Tom Simpson (section)

===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
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| 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}}