The Maurice Burton Way: The Authorised Biography of Britain’s First Black Cycling Champion

’Maurice has lived a hell of a life. The world needs to hear about it’
Ned Boulting

’This book is an inspiration to those who want to achieve in both sport and life’
Phil Liggett MBE

Maurice Burton rose above racism in British society and sport to triumph over adversity. This is the long-awaited, authorised biography of a ground-breaking British cyclist.

On a still summer’s evening at Leicester’s Saffron Lane Velodrome in June 1974, Maurice Burton defeated an elite field to become Britain’s first ever Black cycling champion. For his father, it was a moment of intense pride; Rennal arrived in 1948 from Jamaica and made his home in South London. As his 18-year-old son climbed onto the podium, boos rang out around the stadium.

The crowd’s response that day was typical of the racism and exclusion experienced by Burton. After being overlooked for Olympic selection despite beating those selected, he moved to Belgium to race professionally on the ’six-day’ circuit across the continent, becoming the first Black six-day rider for over 75 years.

This authorised biography traces Maurice’s experiences as the child of a Windrush-generation father and an English mother growing up in London, before moving across to Europe and his eventual return to South London in 1984, where he became a successful business owner and community leader. It rightly places Maurice Burton at the forefront of the British sporting narrative as a pioneer in our collective cultural history.

Maurice Burton was born in London to an English mother and a Jamaican father and became the first Black British champion in cycling. His first taste of success came when he won the Junior Sprint national title in 1973. He went on to represent Britain at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, but then moved to Ghent, Belgium in 1977 to escape the racism he was experiencing. Burton rode 56 professional six-day events, and retired from competitive cycling after a serious racing accident at the Six Days of Buenos Aires in 1984.

Paul Jones is an occasional racing cyclist and a celebrated cycling writer. He appeared in the same race as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and David Millar in the 2014 National Time Trial Championships, once scraped a 49-minute ’25’ and has won a couple of hill climbs and time trials in the South West of England. His highly praised books include A Corinthian Endeavour and End to End.