Frankie Thomas (cyclist)

Frankie Thomas was an Australian racing cyclist who competed on both road and track, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as Hubert Opperman.

Frankie Thomas
Personal information
Full nameFrankie Thomas
Born(1906-11-28)28 November 1906 [1]
Bendigo, Australia
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider

Major results
1929
Fastest Gippsland 100 mile race[2]
1930
5th Sydney to Melbourne stage race [3]
2nd fastest time Goulburn to Sydney [4]
1931
Competed in the Tour de France but did not finish [5]
1932
2nd in Brisbane, Six Days, Brisbane (Queensland), Australia [6]
Fastest time in 140 mile Tour of Gippsland [7]
1933
Fastest time in Melbourne to Ballarat [8]
Fastest time Goulburn to Sydney [9]
2nd Tour of Tasmania[10]
1936
Fastest time 140 mile Tour of Gippsland [11]

Australian professional cycling career

Thomas rode as an amateur from 1926 to 1928 and turned professional in 1929.[12] In 1929 Thomas rode a Preston Star bicycle[13] but by 1930 he was riding for the Malvern Star bicycle company.[14]

In his first year as a professional, Thomas beat Opperman in a Gippsland 100 miles (160 km) race.[2]

In 1930 Thomas set the second fastest time in the Goulburn to Sydney handicap race behind Opperman. [4] Thomas rode in the Sydney to Melbourne stage race, a five-day stage race styled on the European races covering 706 miles (1,136 km) in which the celebrity riders were Opperman and two Frenchmen, Joseph Mauclair and Jean Bidot. Thomas won stage 3 and was 2nd in stage 4 and stage 5.[15] Mauclair won the race with Thomas finishing 5th overall. [3]

Thomas rode in the 1931 Tour de France in a combined Australia/Switzerland team including Opperman, Ossie Nicholson and Richard "Fatty" Lamb. Thomas finished 56th in stage 1, 54th in stage 2. [5] Thomas had stomach trouble and did not finish stage 3.[16]

In 1932 Thomas finished 2nd with Archie McLannan in the Brisbane, Six Days behind Jack Standen and Fatty Lamb and ahead of Opperman and Jack Fitzgerald in 3rd.[6] Thomas also set the fastest time in the 140 miles (230 km) Tour of Gippsland [7]

In 1933 he set the fastest time in the Melbourne to Ballarat,[8] the fastest time in the Goulburn to Sydney [9] and finished 2nd in the Tour of Tasmania, a six-day stage race covering 566 miles (911 km), beaten by Fatty Lamb by just 1 second.[10]

In July 1934 Thomas was disqualified for 18 months for pushing P. Veitch in the Quayle road race at Ballarat, on 21 July 1934.[17]

Thomas returned to cycling in 1936 and set the fastest time in the 140 miles (230 km) Tour of Gippsland.[11]

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References
  1. Event registration number 8297 (1906) Births Deaths & Marriages Victoria
  2. "Thomas Fastest". Cycling and Motor. The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 11 September 1929. p. 11.
  3. "In battle of wits". Cycling and Motor. The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 29 October 1930. p. 12.
  4. "Cycling". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 15 September 1930. p. 14.
  5. "25ème Tour de France 1931" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  6. "Six Days' Race". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 15 August 1932. p. 13.
  7. "Thomas Rides Brilliantly For Fastest Time". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 24 September 1932. p. 4.
  8. "Brilliance of Thomas". The Referee. Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 3 August 1933. p. 14.
  9. "Humphreys and McKenzie Win". Cycling. The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 20 September 1933. p. 12.
  10. "Neck and neck struggle". Cycling. The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 November 1933. p. 12.
  11. ""Gippsland" comes to NS Wales". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 8 October 1936. p. 18.
  12. "Dashing Thomas". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 12 June 1929. p. 10.
  13. "Advertising". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 1 May 1929. p. 11.
  14. "Australian Cycling 30 October 1930". Reprinted in The Cycling Scrapbook. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  15. "First Blood to Oppy". Cycling and Motor. The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 22 October 1930. p. 11.
  16. "Tour de France". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 4 July 1931. p. 21.
  17. "Case of Frank Thomas". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 16 January 1936. p. 19.
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