Ted Piercy

Soon after taking up racing seriously, Ted Piercy joined the crack Polytechnic Cycling Club, and in 1907 was the half-mile handicap winner at the annual three-cornered match between the Poly, Putney and Paddington cycling clubs at Herne Hill. Piercy went on to win many races at club level, and on many tracks around the London area. He was a good handicap rider, mostly of distances up to a mile. He teamed up with Cecil McKaig to compete in the tandem at the 1908 Olympics. Piercy’s greatest achievement came after the Olympics when he won the one-mile race at the 1909 NCU London Centre Championship. He was originally placed second behind Thomas Johnson of Putney, but Piercy put in an objection on the grounds that Johnson “cut in”. The objection was upheld, and Piercy declared the winner. Piercy later became the proprietor of Hounslow Cycle Stores in Hounslow.

Some sources say Ted Piercy took part in the 1914 Milan-San Remo Classic, but that was Charles Alexander Piercey (Australia) who headed to Europe in 1914 to be part of first Australian team to compete in the Tour de France.