The Archer Grand Prix was part of the British Cycling Premier Calendar.
History The Archer Grand Prix was run annually for over fifty years, organised by Stuart Benstead of the Archer Road Club (although Stuart Cook organised the last two events in 2006 and 2007). It was described by British Cycling as a "long running classic". The first edition was held in 1956 and won by British rider, Alfred Howling. 1968 saw the first non-British winner when Jan Krekels of the Netherlands won the race. The race has in the past, adopted the name of its main sponsor, including Harp, Pernod and Cycling Weekly.
Consistently routed around the roads and lanes of the Chiltern Hills, the most recent route was split into a large and small circuit. The large circuit took in Whiteleaf Hill and Hughenden Valley while the small finish circuit included the finish at Winchmoor Hill.
The 2007 edition was won by Simon Gaywood riding for the Plowman Craven Associates team from Matt Talbot (Rapha Condor) and Andy Roche (Pinarello). The 53rd version of the race was scheduled to run in Spring 2008 but had to be cancelled because of policing issues. The future of the race then became uncertain; it was scheduled to be held again on 19 April 2009, but sponsorship problems led to a second cancellation.
Winners 1956 Alfred Howling 1957 Tony Hall 1958 Brian Wiltcher 1959 Ron Coe 1960 Billy Holmes 1961 Gilbert Taylor 1962 Albert Hitchen 1963 Mike Shea 1964 Derek Harrison 1965 Les West 1966 Hugh Porter 1967 Dave Rollinson 1968 Jan Krekels 1969 Martyn Roach 1970 Hugo De Haes 1971 Richard Jones 1972 Jørgen Emil Hansen 1973 Jørgen Emil Hansen 1974 Vern Hanaray 1975 Ryszard Szurkowski 1976 Paul Sherwen 1977 Paul Sherwen 1978 Phil Griffiths 1979 Jørgen Emil Hansen 1980 Jeff Williams 1981 Alan Gornall 1982 Steve Joughin 1983 Mark Bell 1984 Mark Walsham 1985 Peter Sanders 1986 Wayne Randle 1987 Steve Farrell 1988 Philip Cassidy 1989 Steve Farrell 1990 Steve Farrell 1991 Steve Farrell 1992 Peter Longbottom 1993 David Williams 1994 Paul Curran 1995 Chris Newton 1996 Gary Baker 1997 John Tanner 1998 Jon Clay 1999 Chris Walker 2000 Roger Hammond 2001 Gordon McCauley 2002 Gordon McCauley 2003 David O'Loughlin 2004 Julian Winn 2005 John Tanner 2006 Mariusz Wiesiak 2007 Simon Gaywood 2008 Not held 2009 Not held
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