News & Features

British cycling legend Philippa York has lent her name to this year’s Andover Wheelers open hill-climb championship later this month.

York, who competed as Robert Millar and won the coveted King of the Mountains title in the 1984 Tour de France, may attend the event and present the prizes at the event on September 22 in Hampshire.

Any profits from the event will be donated to the SSAFA, the charity supported by Philippa that helps veterans and their families who have served in the armed forces and may have experienced trauma or distress.

The day will also feature the first-ever League of Veteran Racing Road Cyclists’ (LVRC) national hill climb championships for cyclists over 40 years old.

https://www.riderhq.com/events/84660/philippa-york-lvrc-national-hc-championships

The events, hosted by the Andover Wheelers cycling club, takes place on the 1,300-metre climb of Conholt Hill, which has a gradient that averages around 8% and peaks at 13%.

The hill climb event is in its 2nd year. The event is named in honour of a different person each year - someone who has made an outstanding contribution to British cycling on or off the bike.

Philippa, is ranked as the third greatest British road cyclist ever according to Cycling Weekly (https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/british-racing/cycling-weeklys-all-time-ranking-of-british-pro-riders-70858) and has endorsed the launch of the new event in her name and we hope she may present the prizes in person.

Event organiser Martyn Wilson said: “We would like to thank Philippa for backing the event. We are hoping it will be the start of a long tradition celebrating the best of British cycling.”