Celebrating elite black cyclists

Black-British Champions in Cycling promotes the often-unheralded successes of athletes who rose to the top of their sport.

The exhibition aims to explain why there is a dearth of high-profile black cycle racers, using inspirational stories to encourage under-represented groups into cycling.

It opens on 3 October, with a special launch event featuring talks from race and cycling experts at 17:30. Register here for the launch event.

Professor Emeritus Kevin Hylton, from Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Sport, helped bring the exhibition to Leeds.

He said: “The public face of competitive cycling has been dominated by the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Laura Trott. Very few realise that as a promising rookie, Sir Bradley saw some of these black cyclists as his role models.

“These are all cycling greats and deserve their accolades, but there is a whole chapter of cycling that has received almost no national recognition.”

Cyclists featured in the exhibition include Maurice Burton, a national champion who represented Britain at the 1974 Commonwealth Games.

Also included are Charlotte Cole-Hossain, a former British Cycling Junior and Youth A National Track Champion, David Clarke, whose international career included being the highest placed British rider in the 2012 Tour of Britain, and specialist track sprinter Christian Lyte, a double junior world team sprint champion.

“We have a rich legacy of successful black cyclists who have won national and international titles,” said Professor Hylton, formerly Head of Leeds Beckett’s Research Centre for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“I’m delighted we are able to host the Black-British Champions in Cycling exhibition here in Leeds to tell their stories.

“Hopefully it will help the athletes achieve the recognition they deserve, while inspiring others to take up a sport they maybe thought wasn’t for them because of a lack of role models.”

The Black-British Champions in Cycling Exhibition, curated by Dr Marlon Moncrieffe from Brighton University, takes place 10:00 - 16:00 daily between 3-10 October in the Acre Room, James Graham building at Leeds Beckett’s Headingley campus.