List of Famous Cyclists

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List of the most notable and famous cyclists in the world, with photos when available. Most prominent cyclists worldwide and top cyclists in America can be found on this list ordered by their level of prominence,. From reputable cyclists to the lesser known cyclists in history and today, these are the top cyclists in their field, and should answer the question "who are the most famous cyclists in the world?". This list is made up of people like Aaron Olsen and Niklas Axelsson. You may copy this factual list to build your own just like it, re-rank it to fit your opinions, then publish it to share it on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networks you use on a regular basis. (643 Items)
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  • Marshall Taylor
    Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 โ€“ June 21, 1932) was an American professional cyclist. He was born and raised in Indianapolis, where he worked in bicycle shops and began racing multiple distances in the track and road disciplines of cycling. As a teenager, he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, with his trainer and had a successful amateur career, which included breaking track records. Taylor turned professional in 1896, at the age of 18, living in cities on the East Coast and participating in multiple track events including six-day races. He moved his focus to the sprint event in 1897, competing in a national racing circuit, winning many races and gaining popularity with the public. Between 1898 and 1899, he set numerous world records in race distances ranging from the quarter-mile (0.4 km) to the two-mile (3.2 km). Taylor won the sprint event at the 1899 world track championships to become the first African American to achieve the level of cycling world champion and the second black athlete to win a world championship in any sport (Canadian boxer George Dixon, 1892). He was also a national sprint champion in 1899 and 1900. He raced in the U.S., Europe and Australasia between 1901 and 1904, beating the world's best riders. After a two-and-a-half year hiatus, he made a brief return in 1907, before retiring aged 32 to his home in Worcester in 1910. Towards the end of his life Taylor faced severe financial difficulties which forced him into poverty. He spent the final two years of his life in Chicago, Illinois, where he died of a heart attack in 1932. Throughout his career he challenged the racial prejudice he encountered on and off the track and became a pioneering role model for other athletes facing racial discrimination. Several cycling clubs, trails, and events in the U.S. have been named in his honor, as well as the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis and Major Taylor Boulevard in Worcester. Other tributes include memorials and historic markers in Worcester, Indianapolis, and at his gravesite in Chicago. He has also been memorialized in film, music and fashion.
  • Tom Simpson
    Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 โ€“ 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1959, at age 21, Simpson was signed by the French professional road-racing team Saint-Raphaรซlโ€“R. Geminianiโ€“Dunlop. He advanced to their first team (Raphaโ€“Gitaneโ€“Dunlop) the following year, and won the 1961 Tour of Flanders. Simpson then joined Gitaneโ€“Lerouxโ€“Dunlopโ€“R. Geminiani; in the 1962 Tour de France he became the first British rider to wear the yellow jersey, finishing sixth overall. In 1963 Simpson moved to Peugeotโ€“BPโ€“Englebert, winning Bordeauxโ€“Paris that year and the 1964 Milanโ€“San Remo. In 1965 he became Britain's first world road race champion and won the Giro di Lombardia; this made him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the first cyclist to win the award. Injuries hampered much of Simpson's 1966 season. He won two stages of the 1967 Vuelta a Espaรฑa before he won the general classification of Parisโ€“Nice that year. In the thirteenth stage of the 1967 Tour de France, Simpson collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. He was 29 years old. The post-mortem examination found that he had mixed amphetamines and alcohol; this diuretic combination proved fatal when combined with the heat, the hard climb of the Ventoux and a stomach complaint. A memorial near where he died has become a place of pilgrimage for many cyclists. Simpson was known to have taken performance-enhancing drugs during his career, when no doping controls existed. He is held in high esteem by many cyclists for his character and will to win.
  • Pedro Delgado
    Pedro Delgado Robledo (pronounced [หˆpeรฐษพo delหˆษฃaรฐo ษพoหˆbleรฐo]; born April 15, 1960), also known as Perico ([peหˆษพiko]), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a Espaรฑa in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5 ft 7-1/2 in) and used to weigh 64 kilograms (141 lb). He was a good climber, with an aggressive style, making cycling a spectacle, which gained him fans. On one hand, there were days when he was extremely successful attacking. On the other, he occasionally suffered from big losses of time due to mistakes or strokes of bad luck. He was also a good time-trialist until the nineties, when it became difficult for him to adapt to technical changes in the time-trial bicycles. The ending of the 1987 Tour de France and the 1985 Vuelta a Espaรฑa and the whole 1989 Tour are among his more memorable participations in major competitions. Delgado tested positive for the known masking agent, probenecid, during the 1988 tour, was allowed to continue racing and was not charged with any doping offence. He works now as a sports commentator for Televisiรณn Espaรฑola during important cycling events. Delgado inspired the name of the Scottish indie-rock band The Delgados.
  • Viatcheslav Ekimov
    Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (Russian ะ’ัั‡ะตัะปะฐะฒ ะ’ะปะฐะดะธะผะธั€ะพะฒะธั‡ ะ•ะบะธะผะพะฒ; born 4 February 1966 in Vyborg near Leningrad), nicknamed Eki, is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001. In October 2012, he was announced as the general manager of the Russian Team Katushaโ€“Alpecin. The UCI, in a letter written to Katusha Team, denied them entrance into the 2013 World Tour. Among the many ethical violations the UCI cited, the appointment of Ekimov was among them for reasons unspecified.
  • Marco Pantani
    Marco Pantani (Italian pronunciation: [หˆmarko panหˆtaหni]; 13 January 1970 โ€“ 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely considered one of the best climbers of all time in professional road bicycle racing. He won both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia in 1998, being the sixth Italian after Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi and Gastone Nencini to win the Tour de France. He is the last cyclist, and one of only seven, to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year. Pantani's attacking style and aggressive riding turned him into a fan favorite in the late 1990s. He was known as "Il Pirata" (English: "The pirate") because of his shaven head and the rakish bandana and earrings he always wore. At 1.72 m and 57 kg, he had the classic build for a mountain climber. His style contrasted with that of time-trialling experts such as the five-times Tour winner Miguel Indurain.Although Pantani never tested positive during his career, his career was beset by doping allegations. In the 1999 Giro d'Italia, he was expelled due to his irregular blood values. Although he was disqualified for "health reasons," it was implied that Pantani's high haematocrit was the product of EPO use. Following later accusations, Pantani went into a severe mental depression from which he never fully recovered. He died of acute cocaine poisoning in 2004.
  • Chris Witty
    Christine Diane "Chris" Witty (born June 23, 1975) is an American speed skater and racing cyclist and participated in the Olympic Games in both sports. She won medals at both 1000 and 1500 meters in the 1998 Winter Olympics. In 2002, she won the Olympic gold medal at the 1000 meters in Salt Lake City, setting a world record in the process. In 1996 she became World Champion Sprint, in 1997 and 1998 she became second and in 2000 she became third. In 1998 she won the gold medal at the World Single Distance Championships at the 1000 m, in 1996 the silver and in 2000 the bronze medal at the same distance. In 2000, she placed fifth overall in the 500 m cycling time trials at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, becoming only the ninth American ever to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In 2006, she was elected by her teammates to carry the United States flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.