LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD BARRY HOBAN
Ask Barry Hoban what the best ride of his 18-year career was and he doesn’t hesitate long before answering. This is perhaps surprising considering how many rides he has to choose from, of which dozens ended in victory. Until Mark Cavendish came along, he was Britain’s most prolific Tour de France stage winner, with eight.
“The best ride I ever did – Paris-Roubaix, 1972,” he says. This is also a touch surprising because it wasn’t one of his wins – until he explains how his ride to third place unfolded. “In 1972, I was flying. I was right up there with everyone. [Eddy] Merckx, [Roger] De Vlaeminck, [Eric] Leman, all the top-notch riders in the Arenberg Forest.
“You never want to puncture in the Arenberg – I did. I lost two minutes before a team-mate gave me his wheel,” recalls Hoban, now 80, with the zest
