LONDON — Vin Denson, the last survivor of the pioneering generation of British professional cyclists who established themselves at the highest level of European road racing during the 1950s and 1960s, has died on Wednesday 14 October aged 90. Alongside Brian Robinson, Tom Simpson and Barry Hoban, the Chester-born rider helped open doors for the generations of British cyclists who followed.
Denson developed his strength in the fiercely competitive world of British time trialling, track and road racing before crossing the Channel, becoming one of the peloton's most respected domestiques for Rik Van Looy and Jacques Anquetil. His finest years came with Anquetil's Ford France team in 1965 and 1966. "It was like being with Manchester United," Denson recalled, with riders treated as celebrities and once attending a reception with Prince Rainier and Princess Grace in Monaco.
Behind the glamour lay extraordinary hard work, exemplified in May 1965 when Denson and Jean Stablinski were entrusted with shepherding their exhausted leader through the night after Anquetil won the mountainous Critérium du Dauphiné and travelled overnight to Bordeaux to contest the 584-kilometre Bordeaux-Paris classic, starting at one o'clock the following morning. "Jacques was riding so close to me his shoulder would occasionally brush mine," Denson recalled. "To help him I pushed him for long stretches." At one point Anquetil leaned against Denson, apparently falling asleep while still riding, before recovering to complete his historic double.
The following year Denson made history himself when he became the first British rider to win a stage of the Giro d'Italia. Riding for Ford France, he escaped on the mountainous ninth stage from Naples to Campobasso, dropping his breakaway companions and battling alone to victory. It was a landmark achievement for British cycling and proof he was far more than a willing workhorse, with Denson also winning the 1965 Tour of Luxembourg.
The death of his close friend Tom Simpson during the 1967 Tour de France affected Denson profoundly and he eventually retired from professional racing in 1969. Strong, loyal, immensely capable and full of wonderful stories, he belonged to an era when British cyclists had to fight for every opportunity abroad. With his passing, the final link to that remarkable pioneering generation has gone.