Author Topic: Britain's Most Underrated Pro  (Read 3383 times)

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Britain's Most Underrated Pro
« on: 21 September, 2010, 07:38:39 am »
My nomination for this title goes to Worcestershire's Cayn Theakston.  I was prompted to refresh my memory of him by Rhys W's recent gallery reference to Fagor - he rode for them briefly in 86/87.  More notably he remains one of the few British pros (the only ?) to win a 3 week Continental stage race, namely the Tour of Portugal in 1988.   It's sad to note that good as Cayn was, he was probably one of dozens of talented Brits who could have made big names for themselves on the Continent if only he'd got the support available these days.  Pez interview here - PezCycling News - What's Cool In Pro Cycling

Who would you nominate ?
Aero but not dynamic

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: Britain's Most Underrated Pro
« Reply #1 on: 21 September, 2010, 12:02:14 pm »
I remember seeing Cayn Theakston winning the Milk Race prologue at Penzance.

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Theakston took his last professional win with the team, an outstanding prologue victory in an acrobatic and hilly Milk Race prologue, beating Joey McLoughlin by six seconds.

What the article doesn't mention is that he almost missed his start. The announcer kept saying "Cayn Theakston to the start, please. Has anyone seen Cayn Theakston?". He had to sprint to the start house, jump up onto the platform, onto his bike and straight down the ramp. In the end he was 5 or 6 seconds late starting, with his skinsuit still unzipped and flapping.

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et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: Britain's Most Underrated Pro
« Reply #2 on: 21 September, 2010, 06:32:53 pm »
The other candidates that spring to my mind are Deno Davie, Wayne Bennington, and of course Darryl Webster.  Funnily enough, all from the East Midlands, if memory serves.
Aero but not dynamic

Rhys W

  • I'm single, bilingual
    • Cardiff Ajax
Re: Britain's Most Underrated Pro
« Reply #3 on: 21 September, 2010, 08:41:12 pm »
I did a 2-up 25 earlier this year with Darryl Webster and Ceri Pritchard on the startsheet. Surprisingly, they didn't win.

Re: Britain's Most Underrated Pro
« Reply #4 on: 23 September, 2010, 09:16:19 pm »
I would add Peter Stevenson to the list. Rode as a pro in Belgium, and for 7 11. He rode some big races, Tour of Flanders and the like, and was well regarded in Belgium, but never seemed to get any UK recognition. 100% nice guy as well.

 Peter Stevenson – Dag-Otto Lauritzen’s Domestique  | VeloResults