The word legend is parlayed around far too much in sport, but for Brian Robinson, who died last week aged 91, it was a fitting sobriquet. The news of his death was announced last Wednesday morning.
The Yorkshireman, born in Mirfield in 1930, was one of the first British riders to make the move over to the continent and compete as a professional cyclist and in doing so became a pioneer of the sport.
After serving his National Service, he pressed on with his attempt to break into the world of elite cycling in the early 1950s with British teams that travelled abroad to race.
He was the first British rider to finish the Tour de France, in 1955, when he finished 29th, and went on to forge a successful career on the continent.
Robinson finished eighth at the 1956 Vuelta a España, and came third in Milan-San Remo the following year. But it was in 1958 that he really made history, becoming the first rider
