CYCLIST Brian Robinson paved the way for his countrymen as a true sporting phenomenon.

His claim to fame is that he was the first Brit to finish the Tour de France and the first to win a Tour stage

Nearly 50 years on, the 79-year-old from Mirfield says he’s pleased to see British cyclists forging ahead as they pass through the stages in northern France.

This week, Welshman Geraint Thomas took the top spot in the Best Young Riders competition, and second place overall.

Not since 1968 have so many British riders taken to the start line of the Tour de France, with eight Britons and a British-based team entered into the three-week competition this year.

Often during the 1950s and early 1960s Brian was the only person in the race representing Britain – making him a well-known national sportsman.

The grandfather-of-two said: “The Brits are doing very well at the moment but of course, it’s very early days.

“It’s not been nice watching the cyclists scraping gravel out of their wounds.

“There are a lot more falls than there used to be but then there are a lot more cyclists entered these days.

“And there are so many more traffic ornaments and fancy pedestrian crossings now that get in the way.

“There’s all sorts of street furniture that we never had in my day.”

Brian joined the Huddersfield Road Club in 1944 when he was 14, but his father didn’t let him start racing until he was 18.

He turned professional in 1954 and took part in his first Tour de France in 1955, going on to complete a further six of the races, winning two stages in 1957 and 1959.

The tours in the 1950s and 1960s used to be much longer distances.

Brian said: “They’re not doing the distance that we used to do.

“It has gone from about 4,600km to about 3,700km but the race is much faster.

“I don’t think it’s any easier for the cyclists though.

“The race is faster and more exciting and the cyclists are riding much faster than we did.

“I don’t know if that’s because it’s a shorter course or they have better bikes.”

Brian used to excel in the stages with uphill climbs.

He said: “Really I was a better climber and quite at home in the hills. “I used to say I was brought up in the hills but then I saw the Alps and they were entirely different.”

In recent years, the Tour de France has been marred with allegations of riders taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Brian said: “I’m sure that our guys in Britain are clean and I hope other cyclists are clean too.

“They have such a rigorous drug-testing system now that it’s impossible for anybody to get through.”

Brian, who used to work in the building industry, is awaiting an operation because of a problem with his eyes, so will be watching the Tour from the comfort of his home this year.

He said: “It’s actually much better to watch on TV.

“Of course, you don’t get the atmosphere like you do in the mountains.

“When you’re competing there’s all these people up there and so much noise – they’re all shouting good luck.

“For the riders it’s the worst thing because your head’s already pounding from the effort that you’re putting in and then some-one is shouting in your lug hole.”