Eric Thompson

Eric Thompson held 12 British titles including nine tandem titles between 1953-66. He won two of them with Peter Brotherton, three with David Handley and four in successive years (1962-65) with Geoff Cooke, with whom he also won a European title.

Other notable successes for Thompson before his eventual retirement in 1966 at the age of 39, included the 1956 Manchester Wheelers Muratti Gold Cup, the 1961 Dresden and Cologne Grands Prix tandem events with Handley. However, the highlight of his career was in winning the individual road race at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Vancouver. Thompson also had the honour of being selected for the tandem event at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, finishing fourth in the first of those years with Brotherton, and joint fifth with Handley at Rome in 1960.

Thompson was chairman of the Derby Mercury Road Club in 1960 and in 1967 was made their first life president. By profession, he worked for the Prudential Insurance Company for 28 years until his retirement in 1990.

In his retirement years, Thompson enjoyed skiing and cycled for pleasure, mostly on a tandem with his wife Julie around the streets of Loughborough. He also enjoyed squash and was a single-figure handicap golfer at one time.

Sadly, Thompson died in 1996 at the age of 69 while celebrating with friends in Barcelona after completing a 500-mile charity cycle ride across Spain.