John Barclay was a member of Frank Carpenter’s Festival Road Club. John became an outstandingly successful track and road coach, attracting a good network of contacts with talented riders in other clubs such as the Norwood Paragon. In 1958 he teamed up with Stan Etherden, the frame builder from Allin Cycles in Croydon, and established Jensen Cycles which, like Carpenter’s traded until 1969/70. Joe Mummery and Dave Bonner were two stand-out Jensen riders, Val Leisk used a Leader re-badged as a Jensen. After the shop closed John established a car-hire business which helped fund his first love – coaching, running trips to Belgium from the mid-70s on, identifying and nurturing many current professional stars in their early years such Bradley Wiggins, David Millar, Mark Cavendish,  Ian Stannard,  Adam Blythe, Dan McLay, Geraint Thomas and Steve Dennis to name-drop one or two. All were introduced to the Belgian bike racing scene by John.

In 2016 he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame. Then, on October 10th 2018, his citation was added to the Pedal Club’s Golden Book

John passed away 19th May 2023 after an illustrious life. Here is his obituary published by British Cycling:

Everybody at British Cycling is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of John Barclay, at the age of 93. During his lifetime, John played a key role in the development of some of Britain’s most well-known and decorated professional cyclists; planning race trips to Belgium, Holland and France to provide talented young riders with invaluable experience of riding against the best riders on the continent.

Through John’s pioneering race trips he gave hundreds of young riders their first opportunity to race abroad. The trips were largely self-funded and John undertook the role voluntarily, giving up countless hours each year to prepare for the weekend’s racing. Those who first learned their trade under John’s guidance include Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, David Millar, Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard and  Adam Blythe to name just a few.

In recognition of his impact John was award many of the sport’s top honours, including induction into the British Cycling Hall of Frame, the Bidlake Award and the Pedal Club’s Golden Book. He was also awarded a British Empire Medal in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List for services to cycling.

Speaking of John’s impact, 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas said: “John played a key role in my early racing career. As a junior he would take a group of us over to Belgium most weekends. It opened my eyes to what racing was truly about. Not just with the intensity of the races but the tactics and whole atmosphere of them. In those days you couldn’t compare the racing abroad to that back in the UK.

“He did it all off his own back, with rarely any thanks. It was purely for the love of the sport and helping us out. Those races as a junior really brought me on as a bike rider and set me up for later in my career. He deserves every bit of the recognition he gets.”

John’s vision, passion and commitment has been a key foundation of the unprecedented British success of recent years. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, and our thoughts and condolences are with his family and many friends in the sport.

See also ’64 Jensen Super Professional in our collection. Thank you John, for the self-belief, success and pride you brought to British Cycling, and for this bike, my go-to steed since 1968.