1934-2020 - Tony Hewson

Tour of Britain winner and Continental racing trailblazer

- Snowdon Sports

Former Tour of Britain winner Tony Hewson, who has died suddenly at the age of 86, was a trailblazer among British cyclists who ventured to the Continent in the mid-1950s and paved the way for future generations of riders.

Sheffield-born Hewson raced on the British scene mostly, rising to prominence when he became overall winner of the Tour of Britain in 1955. That later led to a fortnight’s racing in Belgium in September 1956. “For the novice it was an unforgettable and humbling experience,” he later recalled.

At the end of that year Hewson took a gamble by giving four weeks’ notice to quit his ‘job for life’ in the civil service and in February 1957 headed to the South of France, making a promising start in the early-season Tour du Var on the Côte d’Azur, where he placed third on the final stage and seventh overall.