Semi-professional Career
Denson failed to make the British team for the Olympic Games and took out a licence as an independent, or semi-professional, for Temple Cycles in 1961. He and three other riders, Ken Laidlaw, Stan Brittain and Sean Ryan, moved to Donzenac, near Brive.
Denson rode for Britain in the 1961 Tour de France, which was for national teams. Only three of the team - Laidlaw, Brian Robinson and Seamus Elliott got to the finish. Denson dropped out on the col de la République, also known as the col du Grand Bois, outside St-Étienne.
Denson returned to York, where he and his wife, Vi, were buying a house. In March 1962 they decided to return to France, travelling to Paris and then to Troyes, where Denson joined the UVC Aube club, sponsored by Frimatic. He was paid £24 a month.
He won the GP Frimatic by four minutes and then the eight-day Vuelta Bidasoa, in Spain. He won a stage of a professional race, the Circuit d'Aquitaine in France and came sixth in the Grand Prix des Nations despite being led off course and twice losing his chain.
Of his Circuit of Aquitaine ride, he said:
| “ | On the second stage I was away with Baldassaroni, the independent champion of France, and one other, and I could see that contract waiting for me. Baldassaroni told me it was all right, he wouldn't be contesting the sprint, and maybe he genuinely meant it, but I said to myself 'I've heard that one before', and on the final hill I jumped away - and stripped my sprocket. Next day had to be it. I was determined no one was going to stop me, and with 40km to go I broke away with a group of eight. The danger men were busy watching each other and as the finish came near I saw my chance. Although not a strong sprinter, I threw all I had into a sprint from the back, and on the line I got the verdict from Thiélin and Le Dissez - it was a photo-finish, in fact. | ” |
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