The club is very proud to provide support for the annual Otley Town Centre Cycle race.
Was the 2005 race, won by Mark Cavendish, the town’s greatest ever sporting event? 9 years before the Tour de France visited the town, few will have anticipated the legendary status of the riders assembled that evening.
Follow the attached link to read the Telegraph and Argus's race report and discover the 7 Olympic medallists including 4 gold medallists, 2 Tour de France winners, UCI World Champions, the joint all-time leading Tour de France stages winner, the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femme winner and the 3 future BBC Sports Personalities of the Year competing as promising young riders that night.
It would be nice to think that 5 year old Tom Pidcock might have been watching his dad, Giles finish third in the Senior race that night.
Was this day the greatest in Otley’s sporting history? It certainly ranks with Beryl Burton’s epic ride of 1967, when she broke the 12-hour men’s cycling record and with the Tour de France visit in 2014.
The seven future Olympic medallists were Mark Cavendish* (1), Paul Manning (3), Ed Clancy (4), Chris Newton (4), Sir Bradley Wiggins* (8), Geraint Thomas* (2) and Club President Lizzie Deignan, nee Armitstead (1). That's 22 Olympic medals including 11 Gold.
* Winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year.