Hugh Porter
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Hugh Porter (born: January 1940) was one of Britain's greatest professional cyclists, winning four world titles in the individual pursuit discipline, as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1966. Building on his track cycling and road racing experience, he became a well-known commentator on cycle events, notably for the BBC.
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[edit] Early years
Porter was born and raised in Wolverhampton and educated at the city's St Peter's School. His father, Joe, was a keen cyclist and at the age of 10, Hugh was taken to the Halesowen velodrome to watch British sprint world champion Reg Harris in action. Aged 16, Hugh Porter began racing as a junior for Wolverhampton Wheelers cycling club, finishing third in his first road race. He also became a regular competitor in weekly track league meetings at Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Stadium cycle track.
[edit] Senior competition
As a senior, he won his first race in July 1958 and by the end of the season another victory and other high placings led to a first category licence for the 1959 season. Six victories came that season on the road, along with a gold medal on the track as part of his club's team pursuit squad at the national track championships at the Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester. He also won the Midlands title in the individual pursuit discipline, but he remained focused on developing as a road racer.
The early 1960s saw him get international recognition, representing Great Britain in the Tour of Czechoslovakia in 1961 (26th place overall) and in the Tour of Ireland. He also finished second that year in the season-long Star Trophy competition, and claimed 17th overall in his first ride in the Tour of Britain. A year later he was 20th in the same event, and had earned selection for the 1962 world championships in Italy where he was to ride in both the road race and team time trial events. However, over-exertion in the time trial led to a poor performance in the road race.
[edit] First national track title
Porter still dabbled in track racing, though, and in 1963 put in an encouraging showing in the individual pursuit at Aldersley Stadium's Easter international meeting, before winning the final ten-mile Scratch Race. Encouraged by these performances, Porter began to consider contesting the national individual pursuit championship. In the meantime, he also raced in the national 25-mile individual time trial championship in Gloucestershire, finishing second. The individual pursuit championship was decided at Fallowfield Stadium; Porter was fastest qualifier, and, although headed in the early stages of the final, soon eased into the lead to beat Harry Jackson and land his first individual national title. Porter then travelled to the Rocourt velodrome, near Liège in Belgium, for the 1963 world championships, where he reached the semi-finals, only to be pipped by just 0.18 seconds by Belgian Jean Walshaerts for a place in the final. Nonetheless, he won the third-place ride-off to take home a bronze medal.
[edit] Olympic disappointment
1964 was dominated by thoughts of the Olympic Games in Tokyo where Porter was already pre-selected to ride in the pursuit, though he still saw fit to defend his British championship, emerging victorious at Herne Hill and shaving almost a second off the championship record. He also tested himself in the national 10-mile time trial championship, finishing second, and was a member of the Wolverhampton Wheelers squad which won the national team pursuit title. However, while Porter qualified fifth fastest in Tokyo, he was suffering from a heavy cold and was eliminated at the quarter-final stage, and went home medal-less – but he had, at least, met his future wife, fellow Olympian and swimmer Anita Lonsborough (who he married in Huddersfield on 17 June 1965).
While Porter retained his British individual pursuit title and won several road races, 1965 was otherwise not particularly memorable. He was defeated in the quarter-finals of the world pursuit championship in Spain (a timetable change meant he almost missed the contest, and, without his normal pre-race routine, he was narrowly defeated by Colombian Martin Rodriguez in the fastest race of the event).
[edit] Commonwealth Champion
However, 1966 proved much more successful. Porter began the year with 12 successive road race victories, and won a pursuit match in the Easter meeting at Herne Hill. He then rode the Tour of Britain, winning one stage, finishing second on three other stages, taking ninth place overall and second place in the points classification. Without any further track races, he travelled to Jamaica for the 1966 Commonwealth Games, where he set a new games record in qualifying for the semi-final of the individual pursuit, and then beat Australian Jan Bylsma in the final to take the gold medal.
[edit] First professional steps
In early 1967 Porter turned professional, riding for the Mackeson Racing team. The step up to the professional ranks meant that in the individual pursuit discipline, he was now racing over 5,000m instead of 4000m, but in his first test at the distance, he emerged victorious, beating Dave Bonner to win the professional title in Leicester. Porter was then selected to race in the world professional pursuit event in Amsterdam. Porter qualified for the final, but, unsettled by a puncture to his opponent Timeon Groen that forced a re-run, he was beaten by two seconds. Nonetheless, his silver medal led to contracts from track racing promoters, including an invitation to ride the London six-day race – his first six-day event. Unfortunately, he crashed on the fourth day, breaking his collar bone and missing out on contracts for some other six-day races. However, he recovered quickly and spent much of the winter track racing in Belgium, finishing the Antwerp six-day race before returning to England for the start of the 1968 professional road season.
[edit] Professional success
Porter began the 1968 season with a time trial stage victory and second place overall in a three-day race in Bournemouth, plus two stage wins and 6th place overall in the Tour of the West. He was then selected for the English team to race in the Tour de France. Having retained his British pursuit title, he was expected to do well in the prologue time trial – and finished seventh out of 120 starters. However, an old injury returned to haunt Porter and he abandoned the Tour on the third stage – a retirement that at least allowed him to concentrate on preparation for the world championships to be held in Rome in late August.
He was the fastest qualifier, and recorded his fastest time of the championship in the quarter final, beating Siegfried Adler (then holder of the world professional indoor Hour record). In the final, Porter faced Ole Ritter (later holder of the outdoor Hour record) of Denmark and beat him by eight seconds to win his first world title (an achievement that also merited the prestigious Bidlake Memorial Prize for 1968).
[edit] Professional pursuit domination
From 1967 until his retirement from professional cycle racing in 1973, Porter was crowned World Professional Cycling Champion in the 5,000 metre individual pursuit discipline four times, being beaten into second place on two occasions and taking bronze on the other. The sequence ran:
- 1967 - Amsterdam - silver
- 1968 – Rome – gold
- 1969 – Antwerp – silver
- 1970 – Leicester – gold
- 1971 – Varese, Italy - bronze
- 1972 – Marseilles - gold
- 1973 – San Sebastian - gold
In between, Porter continued to race on the road during the summer and to participate in the winter six-day races. He even won some cyclo-cross events. In March 1973, Porter travelled to Buckingham Palace and received an MBE for services to cycle racing.
[edit] References
Porter, H. (1973) Champion on Two Wheels (London: Robert Hale & Co, ISBN 0-7091-5091-1)
