Tom Simpson was Britain's leading cyclist of the 1960s. His tragic death during the 1967 Tour De France ended his promising career. The tubes of amphetamines found in his back pocket which may have contributed to his death were a stark warning of the drug culture which was prevalent in the peloton at the time.

Tom was born in Haswell County Durham and was brought up the youngest of 6 children in Nottinghamshire. By his late teens Tom was winning local time trials and so was encouraged to try the track. This led to his first major success at the age of only 19 when he was part of Britain's team pursuit squad which won a bronze medal in the 1956 Olympic games.

In 1959 Tom left Britain to become a professional cyclist. He chose to move to Brittany where he met his future wife Helen Sherburn. His first season was with the Rapha Geminiani team and it proved to be relatively successful for a first season pro.

By 1961 he had won his first Classic the tough Tour of Flanders run over cobbled Belgian roads. The next year in 1962 he became Britain's first holder of the maillot Jaune in the Tour De France.

Other major classic victories included Milan San Remo 1964, Tour of Lombardy 1965 and the epic Paris Bordeaux 1963. The highlight of his career probably came in 1965 when he was the first British winner of the World Championships in Spain.

After an injury affected season in 1966 Tom Simpson entered the 1967 Tour De France with hopes of achieving a good position. However a stomach bug affected his energy levels and contributed to his collapse later on the stage at Mont Ventoux. The Mont Ventoux is one of the most difficult Mountains in the Tour and during stage 13, July Friday 13th the weather was particularly hot. At the bottom of the climb Tom made a break but appeared to start struggling and was overtaken by the eventual winner Julio Jiminez. Then half way up the slope Tom collapsed falling off his bike. He asked to be put back on his bike and continued for another 500 metres. This time he collapsed again and didn't respond to any attempts at resuscitation and died later in hospital. Three tubes of amphetamines were found in his back pocket.

A memorial has been erected on the slopes of Mont Ventoux where Tom Simpson fell, it is visited by many cyclists every year.

- British Cyclists

- Cycling