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On-on-on, Urban Hunter launch Tom Simpson t-shirtTom-red-&-white-1.jpg

On-on-on, Urban Hunter launch Tom Simpson t-shirt

T-shirt celebrates Tom Simpson's achievements
by Tony Farrelly
Wed, May 27, 2009 15:19
7

Urban Hunter have launced a new range of t-shirts to celebrate the memory of legendary British cyclist Tom Simpsom 42 years after his death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux brought on by a combination of heat exhaustion and amphetamines.

Ventoux "the Giant of Provence" is likely to play a pivotal role in this year's Tour as the penultimate stage before the race hits Paris that fact plus a meeting with Simpson's friend and teammate Vin Denson is what inspired Urban Hunter to create their Simpson t-shirts in collaboration with US outfit Gage & DeSoto.

The 'On-on-on' t-shirt takes its name from Simpson's actual last words to Harry Hall on the slopes of the Ventoux and while some might question celebrating the achievements of a drug taking cyclist Richard from Urban Hunter makes a plea for understanding arguing that Simpson's doping should be judged within the context of the times:

“Tom Simpson’s cycling career was simply breathtaking. In 1960, his first season as a pro, he came within one stage placing of winning the yellow jersey in his first Tour de France. In the 1962 Tour he wore the yellow jersey and finished sixth overall. He took Paris-Nice in 1967. But remember the long events such as the 3 week Tour were not his forte. His great events were the one-day classics or week-long races. He could ride these in his all or nothing, aggressive, swashbucking style. He was always great to watch, spectators loved him. He won the Tour of Flanders (1961), Bordeaux-Paris (1963), Milan-San Remo (1964) and the Tour of Lombardy (1965). He was World Champion of the Road in 1965, his greatest achievement. It would be 32 years before another Brit would wear the yellow maillot jaune of the Tour again. It would be 45 years before another Brit, Mark Cavendish, would win Milan-San Remo again.”

Simpson was a great cyclist who paid the ultimate price for doping at a time when it was very much more accepted than it is today and while his memory may still stir controversy for some, he is also remembered with a great deal of affection and respect as anyone who has ever seen the monument to him on Mont Ventoux will testify.

The Urban Hunter t-shirt features the famous Peugeot checkerboard pattern and are available in a range of colours for £21.95. To find out more visit www.urbanhunter.biz

Urban Hunter
Tom Simpson
Tony Farrelly

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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7 comments

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Jon Burrage | 15 years ago
0 likes

dear me, poor effort at spamming there. From a purely aesthetic standpoint I think the Tees look good, not as good as the road.cc ones will do but, you know, they are up there.

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richards | 15 years ago
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Great!! These T-Shirts are surely going to be the world's largest selling brand. I would love to buy one for me as well. T-Shirts gives great look if the T Shirt Printing is of high class.

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
0 likes

yes, didn't they raid a bar… when was the last time Tour riders carried out a raid?

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James Warrener | 15 years ago
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The book shows him as a tough character who would put it all on the line to finish a race and win it.

I suppose doping has always been part of the game and he felt it was a neccessary evil. But back in those days so was alcohol !!!

In fact I seem to think he had consumed brandy on his way up the Ventoux that day.

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cactuscat | 15 years ago
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certainly the drugs weren't the only factor - from reading will fotheringham's excellent biography it's clear that the man was capable of riding himself practically into a coma, and it's surely that mindset above anything else that pushed him over the edge when other riders would maybe have stepped off. like you say, as far as the actual doping was concerned it was a pretty level playing field, the level being lots of drugs, all the time...

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
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Is he always portrayed as a victim of doping?

I'd say he was simply a man of his time who died through the combination of circumstances you mention, he certainly knew what he was doing because everyone else was doing it too. You could argue I suppose that he was a victim of the system that had been created, but he was a knowing victim who worked the system too. That doesn't disqualify him from being regarded as a great rider though.

I rememer someone once telling me that that the stage start the next day the road was carpetted in pills - he came from an era when nearly every rider doped and many had been quite open about it.

As one of Simpson's former teammates said:
'What you've got to realise is that there was no such thing as banned stimulants for much of that decade. Stimulants were taken by everybody. Period,'

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wild man | 15 years ago
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Why is Simpson always portrayed as a 'Victim of Doping'?

He died from a combination of factors, one of which was doping. The others were having the mindset to ride himself into the ground anyway, racing while ill and malnourished up a brutal mountain in brutal heat; yet I don't hear any moralising Anti- Ventoux campaigners.

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