Stan Brittain

Stan Brittain came sixth in the individual road race at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and contributed to Britain wining the silver medal in the team race. It was the one and only time at the Olympics that the team medals were decided on riders’ placements as opposed to aggregate times. It was also the last time the team road race was held at the Games, because it was replaced by the team time trial four years later.

The son of the chief Bailiff of Liverpool, Brittain was a joiner from the Knotty Ash district of Liverpool and his first cycling club was the Woolton Wheelers before making his name with Liverpool Phoenix Cycling Club. His first win was in the Leicester Forest road race in 1951. Other victories came before he did his two year’s National Service in 1953-54 when he rode for Catterick Wheelers Army CC and Northern Command CC. Brittain was selected for the 1954 World Amateur Road Race Championship at Solingen, Germany. He crashed on the seventh lap but was still the best-placed of the six British riders in 29th place, albeit 12 minutes behind the winner Emile van Cauter of Belgium

In 1955, Brittain was in the 4-man Great Britain team that won the team time trial at the World Youth Games Festival in Warsaw. That same year he finished third in the Peace Race, which coincidentally, finished in Warsaw. Brittain was in the lead from the third stage until the seventh. The race was regarded as the largest and toughest stage race in Eastern Europe at more than 2,000km

The following year saw Brittain make his Olympic début, and in 1957 he won the NCU National Road Race Championship. However, Brittain enjoyed his finest moment as an amateur that year when he finished second to the Bulgarian Nentcho Christov in the Peace Race that ran from Prague-Berlin-Warsaw. Brittain moved into second place on the 10th stage and held on to that position at the end.

Brittain turned professional with the French team Helyett - Potin – Hutchison that contained the crack French rider Jacques Anquetil. After just one season with the French team, Brittain switched to the British team Viking Cycles. He spent five seasons with them before quitting the sport in 1964 at the age of 33.

Brittain appeared in the Tour de France three times and on his début in 1958, became only the third Briton to complete the race and was classified 68th. Although he had some minor success in the paid ranks, that first Tour de France appearance was best of his pro career. He missed the 1959 Tour because of a broken wrist but appeared again in 1960 and 1961 completing just eight and three stages respectively.