Cyril Peacock

Cyril Francis Peacock (19 July 1929 – 31 December 1992) was a British amateur racing cyclist who was world champion in 1954. He was also national sprint champion in 1952, 1953 and 1954 and was the Commonwealth Games champion in 1954.

Biography Adolescence Cyril Peacock took up cycle-racing when he was 15 and working as a scientific surgical instrument maker. in south London. He met a friend, Charlie Whitbourn, who suggested he join the Kingston Road Club. He was a member for two years before he rode his first race.

His first track, or velodrome, race was at Slough, west of London, on 22 June 1947. He came third. That September he won his first race, the National Cyclists' Union junior medal competition at Paddington, central London.

He joined the army for compulsory national service at the end of the year and spent two years as a physical training instructor but did not ride a bike. Until then he had raced on the track on a road bike stripped of brakes and gears. He bought his first true track machine from money saved while with the Army. In 1953 he won the £1,000 International Champion of Champions sprint, again at Herne Hill velodrome, on Good Friday 1953; he was the first Englishman to win it

In 1954 he won the world championship in Cologne, Germany, beating John Tressider of Australia and Roger Gaignard of France. Peacock and Harris featured on Player's cigarette cards in 1957.

He represented England and won a gold medal in the Track 1000m Match Sprint at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Professional Peacock became a professional for Raleigh in January 1955 . In March he was awarded the Bidlake Memorial Plaque for service to cycling .