Ken Laidlaw

Thomas A. Kenneth "Ken" Laidlaw (born 16 March 1936)[1] is a retired Scottish professional cyclist. With Robert Millar and David Millar, he is one of only three Scots to finish the Tour de France. He is also one of the first British riders to finish the Tour.

Ken Laidlaw
Ken Laidlaw in 1960
Personal information
Born (1936-03-16) 16 March 1936
Hawick, Scotland
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Professional teams
1961Margnat – Rochet – Dunlop
1962Margnat – Paloma
Major wins
1957 – Tour of Scotland

Early career

Laidlaw raced as an amateur in Scotland in the 1950s. He won the Tour of Scotland in 1957[2] and reportedly won several British titles and held several records.

Laidlaw qualified for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and raced in two events. He finished in 53rd place in the men's road race. He also competed in the 100 km Men's Team Time Trial, finishing 14th.[1]

Professional career

Laidlaw raced the European pro circuit during his professional career between 1961 and 1962. In 1961 he rode for Margnat – Rochet – Dunlop, and in 1962 for Margnat – Paloma.

Laidlaw's most famous moment came in the 1961 Tour de France, when he led Stage 16 until about 7 km to go. The stage took in a climb from Luchon to the summit of the Superbagnères, an ascent of 4000 ft in 11 miles. For his effort he was awarded £145 for the most aggressive rider of the day award. The stage was won by Imerio Massignan who won the mountains classification in that year. Laidlaw finished the Tour in 65th place.

the pack begins the climb out of Luchon, Radio Tour announced; “attack by number 90….LaidLaw! He went past the pack, moving at a good rate with the French tri colour jerseys, and Anquetil in the race leader’s yellow jersey at the front……and out 100 yards ahead of them was the unmistakeable figure of Ken Laidlaw thrashing away for all he was worth”
sporting cyclist

Post-cycling

Following disillusionment with professional cycling, Laidlaw moved to New York in 1964 to continue working as a carpenter and later spent many years living in Savannah, Georgia after his cycling career.

The Ken Laidlaw Sportive is a Cyclosportive named after the rider, held in his native Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

gollark: Get it? Where?
gollark: "having been moved", I think.
gollark: Motus is a Latin word, if it helps at all.
gollark: Also, it's possible that people think "this person must be joking, CB silvers are far more expensive than that".
gollark: Why not try trading silvers for æons then?

References
  1. Ken Laidlaw. sports-reference.com
  2. Ken Laidlaw at Cycling Archives
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