Liquorice allsorts and long distance: how Beryl Burton helped shake up cycling | Richard Williams

Strong willed, strong and obsessively competitive, the legendary Yorkshirewoman was more than a match for menBeryl Burton had a simple motto. “Anything lads can do,” she told herself, “I can do.” And then she got on her bike and showed the world the truth of her assertion through achievements that provided an early sign of what we now believe to be true: that in endurance events, whether cycling or open-water swimming or ultra-marathon running, the gap between men and women decreases as the distance grows.Between the ages of 19 and 39 the Yorkshirewoman won enough cups and medals to fill a house. They included two world road race championships, five world pursuit titles, 72 national time trial championships at distances from 10 to 100 miles, 12 national road race titles and a further dozen national pursuit titles. As a record breaker in time trials at all distances, she was beyond compare. Most of her national records lasted 20 years; one stood for half a century. Continue reading…
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