Jump to content

Death of Tom Simpson: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Next edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
←Created page with '{{Infobox historical event |Event_Name = Death of Tom Simpson |Image_Name = Tom Simpson memorial, Mont Ventoux, 2 May 2009.jpg |Imagesize = 250px |I...'
(No difference)

Revision as of 20:25, 3 July 2013

Death of Tom Simpson
The memorial to Simpson
Date13 June 1965 (1965-06-13)
LocationMont Ventoux, Provence, France
DeathsTom Simpson

Tom "Tommy" Simpson (30 November 1937–13 July 1967) was a British professional cyclist, one of Britain's most successful of all-time.[1] In the 13th stage of the 1967 Tour de France, he collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux, aged 29. The post-mortem examination found that he had taken amphetamine and alcohol, a diuretic combination which proved fatal when combined with the heat, the hard climb of the Ventoux and a stomach complaint. A memorial stands close to the spot where he died and has become a pilgrimage for many cyclists.

Background

Going into the 1967 Tour de France, Simpson was determined to make an impact, he had not won a major race since the Giro di Lombardia in 1965, was in his eighth year as a professional and needed to earn more money before retiring and was optimistic he could finish high in the general classification, securing a contract with an Italian trade team and larger appearance fees from post-Tour criteriums.[2][3][4][5][6] The 1967 Tour was contested by national teams, rather than trade teams.[n 1] Simpson was undisputed leader of the British team, one of the weakest in the race, which consisted of four with experience of top-level racing and six who were riding the Tour for the first time.[8][9][10][11] This could been seen as a handicap, but Simpson wasn't guaranteed the leadership of his trade team, Peugeot-BP-Michelin, and would have to compete with Frenchman Roger Pingeon – the winner of the 1967 Tour.[5] His plan was to either finish in the top-three or wear the yellow jersey; he had targeted three key stages, one of which included the 13th over Mont Ventoux, riding safe until the race reached the mountains.[12][13][14][15]

After the first week, Simpson lay in sixth place overall, leading the favourites.[16][17] As the race passed through the Alps, he fell ill on stage ten through the Col du Galibier pass, with diarrhoea and stomach pains; he wasn't able to eat and rode on reserves, finishing in 16th place, dropping to seventh overall, with his rivals now ahead.[17][18] On the evening of stage 12 his personal manager, Daniel Dousset, put Simpson under pressure to produce good results.[19][20][5][21] His friend and team-mate on the British team, Vin Denson, advised Simpson to limit his losses and settle with what he had;[22] his Peugeot manager, Gaston Plaud, was in Marseille and asked Simpson to quit the race, even though he had no jurisdiction.[23][11]

Death

The limestone peaked Mont Ventoux, where Simpson died, aged 29, on the 13th stage of the 1967 Tour de France.

Stage 13 measured 211.5 km (131.4 mi), started in Marseille, went over the 1,910 m (6,270 ft)-high Mont Ventoux, the "Giant of Provence", before finishing in Carpentras.[16][24] At the start of the stage, the temperature was possibly as high as 45 °C (113 °F);[24] the Tour doctor, Pierre Dumas, took a stroll at dawn. Near his hotel, the Noaille at Cannebière, he met other race followers at 6:30am. "If the riders take something [drugs] today, we'll have a death on our hands", he said.[21][25] At the start line, a journalist noticed Simpson looked tired and ask him if the heat was the problem, Simpson replied "No, it's not the heat, it's the Tour."[26]

As the race reached lower slopes of Mont Ventoux, Simpson – still suffering with illness – was seen ingesting a number of pills with brandy.[27][28][n 2] As the race closed in on the summit of Ventoux, the peloton began to fracture, and for a while, Simpson managed to stay in the front group of elite riders; he then starting slipped back to a group of chasers around one minute behind. He then began to lose control of his bike zig-zagging across the road.[32][n 3] His team manager, Alec Taylor, feared for Simpson less for the way he was going up the mountain than for the way he would go down the other side.[n 4]

One kilometre from the summit, Simpson fell off his bike. Taylor and the team mechanic, Harry Hall, came from team car. Hall tried to persuade Simpson to stop when he fell, saying "That's it for you, Tom." But Simpson said he wanted to go on. He said 'My straps, Harry, my straps!' Meaning that his toe-straps were still undone. They got him his bike and pushed him off.[33][35][36] Simpson's last words, as remembered by Hall, and by Taylor, were 'On, on, on.' The words "Put me back on my bike!" were invented by Sid Saltmarsh, covering the event for The Sun and Cycling, who was not there at the time and in a reception black-spot for live accounts on Radio Tour.[37][36][38] He managed to ride a further 500 yards (460 m) before he began to wobble and was held upright by three spectators, before helping him to the ground on side of the road. He was unconscious with his hands locked to the handlebars; Hall shouted for the other mechanic, Ken Ryall, to pry them loose and the pair laid the lifeless Simpson beside the road. Hall and a nurse from the Tour's medical team then took turns giving Simpson mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, before Dumas came with an oxygen mask.[39][33][40]

Around 40 minutes after his collapse, a police helicopter took Simpson to a hospital in nearby Avignon,[33][41][11][42] where he was pronounced dead, with official time of death at 5:40pm.[33][11] Dumas refused to sign a burial certificate and a poisons expert from Marseille was commissioned to conduct an autopsy.[42][43] Two empty tubes of amphetamines and a half-full tube were found in the rear pocket of his racing jersey, one of which was labelled 'Tonedron'.[44] The British team had been called in for questioning and their baggage was searched. Two of the Belgian soigneurs who looked after riders in the team, specifically Simpson locked themselves in their room, got drunk and would not come out.[45]

On the next racing day the other riders were reluctant to continue racing so soon after Simpson's death and asked the organisers for a postponement.[46] The French rider Jean Stablinski proposed instead that the race would go on but that one of the British riders, all wearing black armbands, would be allowed to win the stage. This honour went to Barry Hoban. This was later a subject of argument as it was widely believed that the race winner should have been Simpson's other team mate and close friend Denson.[47][48][49][16]

Aftermath

Tommy Simpson rode to his death in the Tour de France so doped that he did not know he had reached the limit of his endurance. He died in the saddle, slowly asphyxiated by intense effort in a heatwave after taking methylamphetamine drugs and alcoholic stimulants.

Daily Mail reporter, J. L. Manning, broke the news that drugs were in involved in Simpson's death, 31 July 1967[50]

For a while, nothing happened. There was no inquest in either Britain or France. Then on 31 July 1967, British reporter, J. L. Manning of the Daily Mail, broke the news. Manning was a serious and well-respected journalist. His exposure, the first time a formal connection had been made between drugs and Simpson's death, set off a wave of similar reporting in Britain and elsewhere.[50] French authorises confirmed that Simpson had traces of amphetamine in his body – impairing his judgement, which allowed him to push his body beyond its limit;[38][51][52] the official cause of death was heart failure due to dehydration and heat exhaustion, with the addition of drugs a contributing factor.[53]

Funeral

Simpson was buried in Harworth, after a service at the 12th-century church in the village, attended by an estimated 5,000 mourners, including Peugeot team-mate Eddy Merckx, standing outside in rain to hear the service by loudspeaker.[54][36][55] The epitaph on Simpson's gravestone reads 'His body ached, his legs grew tired, but still he would not give in', taken from a card left for him by his brother, Harry, following his death.[56]

Memorials

File:Tom Simpson memorial, 29 December 2006 (cropped).jpg
The granite memorial to which stands on the spot Simpson died on Mont Ventoux has become a pilgrimage for many cyclists.

A granite memorial to Simpson stands on the spot where he collapsed and died on Ventoux, one kilometre east of the summit, with the words 'Olympic medallist, world champion, British sporting ambassador'.[57][58] The magazine Cycling – now Cycling Weekly – opened a subscription fund in the week following his death, raising around £1,500. It was unveiled in 1968 by Simpson's wife Helen, Hoban and the British team manager Alec Taylor. It was inspired by the memorial to motorcycle racer Jimmie Guthrie, who crash and died at Guthrie's Memorial, Isle of Man, in 1937.[59] Over the years, it slowly fell into disrepair and a new plinth was constructed, secured into the mountainside with steel rods.[60] On the 30th anniversary of Simpson's death, his daughters Joanne and Jane added a plaque that reads 'There is no mountain too high'.[36] Concrete steps from the roadside to the memorial were opened on the 40th anniversary.[61] The memorial has become a pilgrimage to cyclists who pass the memorial frequently leave tributes such as drinking bottles and caps.[62] In nearby Bédoin, there is a plaque in the square, placed by journalists following the 1967 Tour.[63]

At the Harworth and Bircotes Sports and Social Club, there is a museum dedicated to Simpson, opened by riders Denson, Hoban, Arthur Metcalfe and Lucien Van Impe on 12 August 2001.[64] The main display includes the bicycle he used to win the 1967 Paris–Nice and the jersey, gloves and shorts he wore on the day of his death.[65][66] A memorial outside the club – a replica of the one at Ventoux – was erected in 1997 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death.[66] In his adopted hometown of Ghent there is a bust of Simpson in the Sportpalis (Sport Palace).[67]

British rider David Millar won stage 12 of the 2012 Tour de France, on the 45th anniversary, and, having previously been banned from cycling for using performance-enhancing drugs himself, paid tribute to Simpson as well as reinforcing the importance of learning from his own, and Simpson's, mistakes.[68]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The national team format was used in 1967 Tour de France after tour organiser, Félix Lévitan, believed the team sponsors were behind the riders strike in the previous year's Tour.[7]
  2. ^ Alcohol was used as a stimulant and to dull pain.[29] In those years, Tour organisers limited each rider to four bottles (bidons) of water, about two litres, two on the bike and two more given at feeding stations – the effects of dehydration being poorly understood. During races, riders raided roadside bars for drinks, and filled their bottles from fountains.[30][24][31]
  3. ^ Zig-zagging on an ascent is way of lessening the gradient.
  4. ^ The rushing air would revive him but Taylor feared that Simpson, whom he described as a madcap descender, would overdo things and crash.[33][34]

Citations

  1. ^ Birnie, Lionel (22 January 2013). "The all-time list of British pro winners". Cycling Weekly. London: IPC Media. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. ^ Sidwells 2000, p. 237–238.
  3. ^ Howard 2010, 7 minutes in.
  4. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 130–131.
  5. ^ a b c McGann & McGann 2008, p. 27.
  6. ^ Sidwells 2000, p. 176.
  7. ^ McGann & McGann 2008, p. 24.
  8. ^ Sidwells 2000, p. 238.
  9. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 28.
  10. ^ Mulholland, Owen. "Tom Simpson". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d Gallagher, Brendan (13 Jul 2007). "Tom Simpson haunts Tour 40 years on". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  12. ^ Sidwells 2000, p. 239.
  13. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 28–29.
  14. ^ Howard 2010, 5 minutes in.
  15. ^ McGann & McGann 2008, p. 27–28.
  16. ^ a b c "1967 Tour de France". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  17. ^ a b Sidwells 2000, p. 244.
  18. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 19.
  19. ^ Fotheringham 2006, p. 81.
  20. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 131.
  21. ^ a b Woodland, Les (21 July 2007). "Simpson: martyr, example, warning". Cyclingnews.com. Bath, UK: Future plc. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  22. ^ Howard 2010, 8 minutes in.
  23. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 216–217.
  24. ^ a b c Rosen 2008, p. 32.
  25. ^ Cazeneuve & Chany 2011, p. 572.
  26. ^ McGann & McGann 2008, p. 28.
  27. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 30–31.
  28. ^ Dimeo 2007, p. 61.
  29. ^ McGann & McGann 2008, p. vi.
  30. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 179.
  31. ^ Woodland, Les (3 October 2007). "The chasse à la canette". Cyclingnews.com. Bath, UK: Future plc. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  32. ^ McGann & McGann 2008, p. 28–29.
  33. ^ a b c d e Sidwells 2000, p. 248.
  34. ^ Woodland 2007, p. 333. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFWoodland2007 (help)
  35. ^ Woodland 2007, p. 33–35. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFWoodland2007 (help)
  36. ^ a b c d Woodland 2007, p. 334. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFWoodland2007 (help)
  37. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 34–35.
  38. ^ a b Rosen 2008, p. 33.
  39. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 35–37.
  40. ^ Thompson 2008, p. 102.
  41. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 186.
  42. ^ a b Nicholson, Geoffrey (14 July 1967). "Simpson dies after collapse on Tour". The Guardian. Guardian and Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  43. ^ Nelsson 2012, p. 98.
  44. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 167.
  45. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 38–39.
  46. ^ Howard 2010, 56 minutes in.
  47. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 6.
  48. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 90–91.
  49. ^ Rosen 2008, p. 33–34.
  50. ^ a b Manning, J. L. (31 July 1967). "Simpson was killed by drugs". Daily Mail. London: Associated Newspapers.
  51. ^ Houlihan 2002, p. 65.
  52. ^ Dauncey & Hare 2003, p. 214.
  53. ^ Sidwells 2000, p. 13.
  54. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 100.
  55. ^ Sidwells, Chris (17 June 2010). "Eddy Merckx interview". Cycling Weekly. London: IPC Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  56. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 83.
  57. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 208.
  58. ^ Williams & Le Nevez 2008, p. 83.
  59. ^ Fotheringham 2007, p. 208–209.
  60. ^ "Tom Simson Memorial Fund". Universal Cycle Centre. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  61. ^ "Harworth's Tom Simpson remembered". Retford Trader and Guardian. Edinburgh: Johnston Press. 13 July 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  62. ^ Moore, Richard (26 July 2009). "British riders remember Tommy Simpson – a hero to some, to others the villain of the Ventoux". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  63. ^ Woodland 2007, p. 265. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFWoodland2007 (help)
  64. ^ "Tom Simpson". Daily Peloton. 12 August 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  65. ^ Williams, Richard (13 July 2007). "White flowers for a man in white who rode himself to destruction". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  66. ^ a b "Simpson Museum". International Cycle Sport. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  67. ^ Simpson 2007, p. 12–13.
  68. ^ "Tom Simpson: Forgotten by all but one". The Scotsman. Edinburgh: Johnston Press. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2013.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Simpson (cyclist).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Tom_Simpson&oldid=562741139"