Tom Simpson
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Thomas Simpson was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager
Simpson c. 1966
In 1956, aged 18, Simpson began track cycling at Manchester's Fallowfield Stadium (pictured in 1985).
In April 1959, 21-year-old Simpson arrived at Gare de Saint-Brieuc in Brittany (pictured in 2011) with £100 and the hope of launching his continental professional career.
Simpson's fourth place in the 1959 world road race championships at Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands (pictured in 2011) was the highest ever by a British rider.
Strychnine
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Strychnine is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or
Tom Simpson
…confirmed by Simpson's roommate Colin Lewis. Ramsbottom added, "Tom took a lot of chances. He took a lot of it [drugs]. I remember him taking a course of strychnine to build up to some big event. He showed me the box, and had to take one every few days." although he implied that other competitors were involved…
Wolves poisoned with strychnine in Abruzzo National Park, Italy, 1924.
An 1809 painting by Charles Bell depicting opisthotonus caused by tetanus
Thomas Hicks, the winner of the 1904 Olympics Men's Marathon. Hicks consumed large amounts of strychnine and brandy during the race.