1971 Australian Amateur Road Cycling Championships
Centennial Park, Sydney Saturday 28 August 1971

Some time ago I contacted the Australian Federation to see if they knew or had a link to someone who could help. But no reply. There is an Australian Bicycle History website that was created by a group of enthusiasts and officials - but it seems to be struggling to make progress or even keep going. Which is not surprising considering that one of the contacts is someone who was racing in the 1940s!

There is also a Wikipedia Australian National Champions page - and it lists the 1971 Senior winner as Graham McVilly but as you can see he is not down as a competitor. The Wikipedia page does not list 2nd or 3rd place in the Seniors and only has Junior results from 2009 onwards. Now Graham McVilly was from Tasmania and one of Australia’s best cyclists of the 1970s. He won the Herald Sun Tour three times (1971-1973-1974) and was voted Australian Cyclist of the Year twice (1971-1973). He was a pro in Europe for Sonolor-Gitane in 1974. Sadly he was killed at an equestrian event in 2002.

But this pro career is the clue - since Australia cycling administration was split. Divided in much the same way that the NCU and BLRC were in Britain. But in Australia the split was still in full-force during the 1970s and the final amalgamations [state and national] did not occur until 1995.

The Australian Cycling Federation was formerly the Australian Amateur Cycling Association and the “pro” body was the League of Australian Wheelmen. There was (is) also the Australian Professional Cycling Council but I don’t know where it fits in. And there’s the Australian Veteran Cycling Council but clearly they just cover the vets / masters.

By a process of linking clues together I suspect that Dick Paris (No. 22 R Paris) won for NSW in 1971 - possibly from John Trevorrow (No. 2 Victoria) and Graeme Jose (No. 14 South Australia). Sadly Graeme died competing in Austria in June 1973. But the 1971 result is nearly confirmed in his obituary on the Whyalla Cycling Club’s website - “Legsie [Graeme Jose] rode the 1971 Australian senior Road title around Sydney's Centennial Park. He thrilled the South Australian camp with his “flyer” at three laps to go and only the alertness of John Trevorrow and Dick Paris cost him that title.”

But surely 1971 cannot be too far in the past for all records to be lost - can it? Can anyone confirm the result; or even help me sort out the gaps in the Wikipedia page?

Update 22-Sep-2012

1971 Junior Result 1971 Senior Result 1 Gary Sutton, New South Wales 1 Ray Piper, New South Wales 2 Richard Paris, New South Wales 3 John Trevorrow, Victoria 4 Clyde Sefton, Victoria 5 Steele Bishop, Western Australia

Thanks to Phill in Australia for his help in correcting my misguided guesses - and for providing extra info about some of the riders. Cheers Phill

And for those interested - here are a few of the missing results for the Senior Amateur Australian Road Race Championship not on the wikipedia page -

But I’m not trying to set-up an alternative reference source - once I get a better list then the extra information will be added to wikipedia.