Mark Bell (cyclist)

For other people named Mark Bell, see Mark Bell (disambiguation).

Mark Bell

250px Mark Bell wearing the Great Britain cycling jersey
Personal information
Born	(1960-06-21)21 June 1960 Birkenhead, England
Died
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Amateur team(s)
Birkenhead Victoria CC
Birkenhead North End CC
UVCA Troyes
Port Sunlight Wheelers Club
ACBB
Manchester Wheelers' Club
New Brighton CC
Prescot Eagle
Professional team(s)
1985	Falcon Cycles
1986	Raleigh - Weinmann
1987	Raleigh - Banana
1988	Emmelle-MBK
Major wins
British National Road Race Champion (1986)
Infobox last updated on 1 May 2010

Mark Bell (21 June 1960 – 30 January 2009) was an English professional cyclist from Birkenhead. He rode for Britain in the Olympic Games, won the national road championship as an amateur and then a professional and was the first foreigner to win the Étoile de Sud stage race in Belgium. He died at 49 after collapsing at his home in Bebington, Wirral. He had recently recovered from alcoholism.

Origins

Mark Bell was an early talent. A rival, Neil France, said: "I first met Mark in Barnston dip on the Wirral when I tried to drop him. As a 12-year-old imagine my surprise when the nine-year-old Mark kept up with me!". At 10 he finished a 10-mile time-trial in 33 minutes, wearing soccer clothes and school shoes. He came sixth in a race against boys several years older when he was 12, won cyclo-cross races and as a 14-year-old rode for the North of England in the English Schools Cycling Association international three-day at Filey, Yorkshire.

Amateur career

Mark Bell won the season-long Peter Buckley Trophy competition for the best under-18 in 1978. He turned 18 the following season and won the Benedictine GP at Leyland, Lancashire. In 1979 he earned his first senior international selection, which was for the Sealink International and was 3rd in the British National Road Race Championships. Later that season still only 19 he finished the world amateur road race championship in Valkenburg, Holland. He also spent some time in 1979 with the ACBB, riding alongside Phil Anderson and Robert Millar. In 1981, he won the British National Road Race Championships in Colchester and won two stages in the Milk Race. The following season Bell and track rider Piers Hewitt spent some time living and racing in France for UVCA Troyes.

Bell competed in the road race at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane finishing 9th, the gold medal won by compatriot Malcolm Elliott. Bell made history in 1983 becoming the first foreigner to win the Étoile de Sud stage race in Belgium. In 1984 he rode for Britain in the Olympic Games road race in Los Angeles. Bell was the top British rider for the Olympic road race. However the course contained a tough climb that no-one had told him about as the BCF selectors had said it was flat. Consequently Bell felt he was the wrong type of rider for the course. Bell was not a climber - evidence his 110th place in the British National Hill Climb Championships, several years before the Olympics. He did not finish the race, and dropped out before the halfway mark. However he had an extremely successful amateur career, winning around 200 races as an amateur. That included classics such as the Pernod GP, the Lincoln GP and GP of Essex.

Professional career

Bell returned from Los Angeles and turned professional for Falcon, alongside Shane Sutton. Falcon were one of several teams riding largely in Britain. He won the Delyn Grand Prix in his first season and finished third in the British National Road Race Championships. The following year he moved to the Raleigh team, riding with Paul Sherwen, Paul Watson, Jon Clay and former Manchester Wheelers team mate Jeff Williams. In his first season with Raleigh he won the British National Road Race Championships. Brian Cookson, later president of the Union Cycliste Internationale, said: "I remember, as a commissaire, following Mark throughout his successful breakaway to win the national pro road race title in 1986, when he simply rode away from some of the greatest names in the sport."

Bell was often labelled as a sprinter and won his first two stages in the Milk Race at York and Blackpool from bunch sprints. However Bell disputed this tag as he said "I sprint better from a small group than from a bunch. I’d say, basically, that on my day I’m a strong rider that has the ability to nick a sprint or go alone in a breakaway."

In 1988 he joined Emmelle-MBK riding alongside Graham Jones. He retired at the end of the 1988 season.

Later life

Bell had repeated health trouble after he stopped racing, including alcoholism. He wrote on a web site in 2008: "After stopping racing, I was dogged with alcoholism which at present I am on top of, but I am partially temporarily disabled with DVT deep vein thrombosis damage to my lower right leg and foot and also have osteomyelitis damage to my left shoulder requiring a replacement shoulder operation." He was found dead in January the following year.

His brother, Tony, also a former professional, said: "Mark battled with a lot of his own problems in his last years, but, when he was on top of things and doing well, he was a lovely man."

"Mark was one of the best roadmen that this country has so far produced, with many solid performances, and flashes of brilliance that saw outstanding results in international events at home and abroad. "

Brian Cookson OBE

Palmarès

1978

1st National junior road race series

1979

3rd British National Road Race Championships (Amateur)

1980

2nd Stage 5, Sealink International

1981

2nd Premier Calendar

2nd Stage 1, Milk Race, Bournemouth

1st Stage 7, Milk Race, York

1st Stage 12, Milk Race, Blackpool

1st British National Road Race Championships (Amateur)

2nd Newton

1982

3rd London - Bradford

9th Commonwealth Games, Road race

1st Lincoln International GP

1st Stage 11, Milk Race, Harrogate

1983

1st Overall Étoile de Sud

1st Stage, Étoile de Sud

1st Archer Grand Prix

1984

DNF Olympic Games, Road race

1985

1st Delyn Grand Prix

2nd Derby

3rd British National Road Race Championships (Professional)

2nd Shrewsbury

1986

64th Overall Nissan Classic

1st British National Road Race Championships (Professional)

2nd Tom Simpson Memorial

1st Douglas Kermesse

1987

2nd Norwich

20th British National Road Race Championships (Professional)

External links

• Mark Bell at Cycling Archives
• Cycle Base