Good Wood Remembered

The last time the Road World Championships visited Britain was in 1982. Goodwood made careers but the event itself was nearly a disaster.

- James Shrusall

As anticipation builds fast towards the Road World Championships in Yorkshire this September, it’s a good time to remind ourselves that this is not the first time the World Championship rainbow bands have been awarded on British roads. In fact it’s the fourth, with 37 years between now and the last time the Worlds took place at Goodwood, Sussex in 1982.

Cycling Weekly took a trip down memory lane with a cast of characters who were all there, all with a different viewpoint to offer.

In the pro men’s race: winner Giuseppe Saronni of Italy; third placed Sean Kelly; and GB’s Keith Lambert, 43rd.

In the women’s title race: Mandy Jones, celebrated home winner; and Alan Rushton, the race organiser.

Racing in Britain

The world of cycling was considerably smaller in 1982, and for many competitors, it was the first time they had raced in the UK.

Giuseppe Saronni: “Racing in England was something new for all of us at the time and I was curious and interested to see the country. It was my first time there, and training there the days before the race, it was strange to ride on the roads. Every junction that we came to we were a little confused — we wanted to turn one way when we should have been turning the other way. It was truly an undertaking every time we went out to train.”

Preparation

Pre-event team training was unrecognisable from that of today, although there was plenty of coherence within the squads — especially with Italy

Keith Lambert: “Stan Kite (of the Professional Cycling Association) put some races on leading up to it in addition to what the normal programme was — a couple of midweek ones around what we used to call the rabbit run, Shropshire, Ironbridge. Quite hard races as well.