History
The British Cycling Federation (BCF) was formed in 1959 at the end of an administrative dispute within the sport. The governing body since 1878 had been the National Cyclists Union (NCU). The legality of cyclists on the road had not been established and the NCU worried that all cycling could be affected by police concerns about racing. The cycling historian Bernard Thompson said: "Events organised by clubs in the 1880s, although taking place on quiet country roads, were constantly interrupted by the police. Often horse-mounted policemen charged at racers and threw sticks into their wheels." The race organiser and writer, Chas Messenger, said: "Thousands of cyclists were convicted or fined for dangerous riding, many on mere suspicion and unsupported evidence."
The NCU banned all racing on the road and insisted clubs use velodromes. A rebel organisation, eventually known as the Road Time Trials Council, began running races of individuals competing against the clock at dawn and in secrecy, to avoid police attention. The NCU eventually accepted the RTTC and the two organisations ran the sport between them, the RTTC interested only in time-trialling and the NCU administering track races and representing Britain at meetings of the UCI.
Infighting was sparked by the UCI's decision that world road championships from 1933 would be not individual contests but competitions in which riders started together. The NCU had never been against such races but insisted that in Britain they were on roads closed to traffic, such as airfields and motor-racing courses. It now had to select riders not on their talent against the clock but in a bunch. Selection races were held at Donington Park and Brooklands. Among the riders were some, like Percy Stallard, who believed races ought to be run on the open road. He organised a race from Llangollen to Wolverhampton, in 1942. The NCU suspended Stallard and others and they formed the British League of Racing Cyclists. It and the NCU fought each other until they merged in 1959.
Read more about this topic: British Cycling
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