Daily Cycling Facts 26.12.2012

Lesley Tomlinson, the Derbyshire-born mountain biker who moved to Canada when she was ten  and represented her adopted country in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, was born on this day in 1959. Before going to university, Tomlinson preferred to ride horses; unable to keep one while studying she began long distance running and then took up cycling. Having earned her degree in Business and Economics, she worked in business for several years and rose to a senior marketing position before deciding to have a go at becoming a professional cyclist when she recorded good times in the cycling sections of triathlons in 1988 (her times in the swimming sections, by her own admission, were not so good - "I am an anchor," she says) and, in 1995, she signed her first contract with the Evian Pro MTB team.

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
(image credit: Rapha-Condor CC)

Happy birthday to Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, born in 1982, the ex-mountain biker who won the King of the Mountains classification and finished 5th overall in the 2011 Tour of Britain when riding for Rapha-Condor-Sharp. 2012, when he rode for Endura, was to be his breakthrough year with two stage wins, the Points competition overall victory at the Tour Méditerranéen, one stage, the Points competition and overall victory at the Tour du Haut-Var, two stages and overall victory at the Tour Alsace and overall victory at the Tour of Britain; at the end of the season he impressed further by keeping up with the world's top riders until the final climb of the Cauberg during his World Championships debut. In October, it was announced that he had accepted the offer of a two-year contract with Sky.

British Olympian Ted Piercy was born on his day in Southwark, London in 1882. He competed in the 2km Tandem Sprint during the 1908 Games in London. Ted died on the 3rd of January 1968 aged 85.

Josef Rieder, a competitor in the Individual and Team Road Races in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was born on this day in 1893 in Munich.

Tom Leezer, the Dutch Rabobank rider who was Under-19 National Road Champion in 2003 and led the Mountains classification for two stages at the 2009 Vuelta a Espana, was born on this day in 1985.

Happy birthday Riccardo Magrini, born in Montecatini Terme, Italy in 1954. He won a stage in the 1983 Giro d'Italia and another in the Tour de France in the same year.

Jerry M. Certain's parcel carrier for
bicycles, Pat. No. 639798

On this day in 1899, African-American inventor Jerry M. Certain patented a new design for a "parcel carrier for bicycles" featuring a rigid mesh body fitted to a metal frame. Similar designs are still in production today.

Antonio Miguel, who rode for Spain in the 4km Team Time Trial at the 2008 Games in Beijing, was born today in 1982.

Rudolf Karsch, winner of a bronze medal at the infamous 1936 Olympics in Berlin for the 1km Time Trial, was born on this day in 1913. He died on December the 11th, 1950 aged 36 under mysterious circumstances in an apartment filled with gas.

Uruguayan Walter Moyano was born on this day in 1933. He rode in the Team and Individual Road Races at the 1956 Olympics but finished neither event. However, his palmares includes some respectable results in other events, including silver and gold medals in the Pan American Games.

Karel Nesl of Czechoslovakia failed to finish the same races in the 1952 Games in Helsinki. He was born on this day in 1930.

Emil Rusu, a Romanian rider who appeared in the Olympics in 1964 and 1968, was born on this day in 1946.

Yavé Cahard, French silver medalist in the 1980 Moscow Olympics for the Men's Sprint event, was born today in 1957. He shares his birthday with fellow Olympian Anthony Cuff, who represented New Zealand in the Individual and Team 4km Pursuit events at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Henning Schmitz of Kraftwerk

Italian Luca Columbo, silver medalist in the 100km Team Time Trial at the 1992 Bercelona Olympics, was born on this day in 1969.

Hector Martin, a Belgian rider who was professional between 1925 and 1935, was born on this day in 1898. Hector won three stages in the 1925 Tour de France and two, wearing the maillot jaune for four days, in 1927. Among other successes, he won an amateur Tour of Flanders and Bordeaux-Paris. He died on the 9th of August in 1972.

And finally, a very happy birthday to Henning Schmitz, a member of the cycling-obsessed, revolutionary German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk.

Other cyclists born on this day: Giacomo Fornoni (Italy, 1939); Anthony Cuff (New Zealand, 1957).