top of page

Our British and Irish Legends

Here are some short biographies about Our Legends

Peter Winterbottom

Peter “don’t push me up those hills” Winterbottom: it’s a far cry from the Yorkshire moors where Wints first rode his bike delivering the bread in the Hovis ad, but now he is as happy in the saddle as he was on the open side for Headingly, Hawks Bay, Harlequins, England and the British & Irish Lions. 

 

At a touch over 50 (and that’s not his waistline) he lets his riding do the talking and whilst he may not be first up the hills he is one of the quickest coming down ! Be warned he can be known to fall off from time to time and will quietly tuck in right behind you within a wheel’s length before you can say “NeilBack off!”. If the headwinds pick up Wints will sure to be one of the most popular riders to draft and the sight of those ample buttocks can be quite hypnotic and the long lonely hours will fly by.

DOB:

31 May 1960

Birthplace:

Otley

Height:

1.83m (6’ 0”)

Weight:

94kg (14st 11lb)

Position:

Flanker

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

19 (7 – 1993,
12 – 1983)

Points Scored:

4
Mike Teague

Iron Mike “who’s going to push me up those hills” Teague: for a self-confessed “sh£t kicker” from Gloucester Mike is equally at home on the bike as he is on his combine harvester or have I mixed my West Country metaphors? OK to be honest Mike struggles up the hills unless there’s a can of cider at the top but like Wints, Sir Isaac Newton helps bring him down again quite nicely.

 

 You may not be aware that apart from playing for Gloucester, England and the British & Irish Lions Mike also had a brief stint at Cardiff RFC where the men are men, the sheep are scared and the bikes were reinforced! In the 1989 Lions Tour Mike was awarded Man of the Series and still treasures the (empty) sherry decanter he won. Another man to draft when the headwind blows but to avoid when the sun comes out and you are wearing a white woollen jumper!

DOB:

08 Oct 1960

Birthplace:

Gloucester

Height:

1.90m (6’ 3”)

Weight:

106kg (16st 9lb)

Position:

Flanker

British & Irish 
Lions Matches:  

14 (6 – 1989,
8 – 1993)

Points Scored:

5
Roger Uttley

Roger “slow down” Utley (OBE): a living legend in his own lycra and a Global Saga Ambassador, big Rog is simply a machine. Always found at the head of the peloton unless being made to ride at the back as a result of the fines committee sitting in judgement of excessive speeding the day before.  Rog may now be a smidgen over 60 (like his IQ) but he was part of the ’74 Lions Invincibles after having played at Fylde, Gosforth, Wasps and of course England. 

 

Roger recently competed in the World’s Fittest Man Competition which he was leading after day 1 without breaking into a real sweat. Alas he was asked to leave on day 2 after breaking wind ! Whether the weather is good or bad Rog will lead the peloton through thick and thin and he embodies the “spirit of rugby on a bike” but will have his well-earned bus pass with him just in case.

DOB:

11 Sep 1949

Birthplace:

Blackpool

Height:

1.93m (6’ 4”)

Weight:

97kg (15st 3lb)

Position:

Back Row

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

16 (1974)

Points Scored:

8
Rob Henderson

Rob “born under the white cliffs of Dover” Henderson: according to Wikipedia, Hendo is 6ft 1 and weighs 93 KGS which only goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet! Hendo is another Esher based “merchant banker” type who has an illustrious playing career behind him with London Irish, London Wasps, Munster, Toulon, Ireland and of course the British & Irish Lions. 

 

Highlights include tackling Austin Healy so hard in the Heineken Cup that Austin even stopped talking for a few minutes. Hendo is a regular up Box Hill where he has completed the near impossible feat of eating the whole of the ice-lolly selection at the cafe there before then cycling back down to do the same at the café at the bottom. This ride will be a piece of cake for Hendo followed by several beers, then another piece of cake but he is a strong as an ox and will take some beating on the down hills.

DOB:

27 Oct 1972

Birthplace:

Dover

Height:

1.85m (6’ 1”)

Weight:

97kg (15st 3lb)

Position:

Centre

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

6 (2001)

Points Scored:

20
Colin Charvis

Colin “born in England” Charvis: with over 92 caps for Wales and 2 for the British & Irish Lions it makes you wonder when Colin ever had time to learn when to ride a bike? One of international rugby’s all-time leading forward try scorers Colin now runs a carpet shop in Swansea which possibly explains why in 2013 he completed the ABSA Cape Epic. 

 

He is the first ex-rugby International from the Northern Hemisphere to enter and complete the 700km, 7 day race across untamed Africa until big Rog did it in 6 days carrying Iron Mike last week! 

DOB:

27 Dec 1972

Birthplace:

Sutton Coldfield

Height:

1.90m (6’ 3”)

Weight:

106kg (16st 9lb)

Position:

Back Row

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

6 (2001)

Points Scored:

15
Steve Bainbridge

Steve “Daley” Bainbridge was a school boy decathlete of some note and when Daley Thompson was recently asked who was his greatest rival at the UK School Championships in 1974 he said “without doubt it was Graham Philips!” Anyway Steve is an undoubted athlete with 18 caps for England and 2 for the British & Irish Lions in NZ and has as many international tries for his home Country as the great “Pretty Boy” Baird!

 

Steve actually replaced “Slow Down” Utley in the England team and was his partner in crime at Gosforth also. Both were 2nd rowers with back row tendencies though and this penchant for copying each other led to their mutual love affair with the Wattbike! Rog has his in the shed whilst Steve’s is in pride of place in front of his TV where he likes to sit and watch Mickey "The munch (or is that the lunch)" Skinners “Big Hits and Dirty Bits” DVD, available at all HMV’s for 0.99p. Steve main’s role will be to push Iron Mike both up hills and out of bars.

DOB:

07 Oct 1956

Birthplace:

Newcastle-
Upon-Tyne

Height:

2.01m (6’ 7”)

Weight:

106kg (16st 9lb)

Position:

Lock

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

11 (1983)

Points Scored:

0
Craig Chalmers

Craig “my sister has more Scottish caps than me” Chalmers: a natural on his bike having been brought up in Galashiels where he went on to play for Melrose, Harlequins & Worcester amongst others. He has 60 Scottish caps and 1 for the British & Irish Lions and rumour has it might make the next Scottish 6 Nations squad too! 

 

Craig now lives in Esher which must mean he is a stockbroker so will have ridden the Surrey Hills and tamed Box Hill in training for this ROTL Triple Crown event. Craig has 166 points for Scotland but is perhaps most famous for his 3 penalties against England in Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam success. We expect Craig in his lycra kilt, to be leading from the front of his peloton and to be refuelling on McEwan’s super strength lager whilst munching on a deep fried mars bar at the designated feed stations. That’s enough stereotypes hit there me thinks.

DOB:

15 Oct 1968

Birthplace:

Galashiels

Height:

1.80m (5’ 11”)

Weight:

87kg (13st 9lb)

Position:

Outside Half

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

7 (1989)

Points Scored:

28
Roger Baird

Roger “pretty boy” Baird might sound like a boxer but he has a unique record of scoring more tries for the British & Irish Lions than he has for Scotland. Together with Craig Chalmers they have amassed an incredible total Scottish points tally of 166! 

 

Roger was part of the 1984 Grand Slam winning team as well as being in the first Scottish team to beat Australia away,  but now is firmly concentrating on getting into his lycra bib on this Triple Crown bike ride. He learned to ride a bike whilst growing up in Melrose and conquering the Eildon Hills and there is no truth in the rumour that he was trying ride away from his next door neighbour Jim “this is your Everest” Telfer. Roger has had several rounds of plastic surgery to maintain his Cliff Richard type youthful looks and let’s hope he enjoys his “Summer Holiday” in the peloton.

DOB:

12 Apr 1960

Birthplace:

Kelso

Height:

1.75m (5’ 9”)

Weight:

76kg (11st 13lb)

Position:

Wing

British & Irish
Lions Matches:  

11 (1983)

Points Scored:

24
Dafydd James

Dafydd “I am the only cyclist in the village” James : was born in Zambia, and on his way to play 48 times for Wales and 3 times for the British & Irish Lions he has played for more clubs than Wints has had hot dinners including Kenfig Hill, Llanelli, Bridgend, Ponty, Harlequins, Scarletts, Cardiff, Sale and HKCC.

 

At one time Dafydd had drunk the most Heinekens in the ERC at 29 before Vincent Clerc took his title away from him in 2009. Today Dafydd is a personal trainer of some note and according to his website he has “dedicated his life to fitness and has seen the positive changes to his body and mind that for the right fee he will share that with you regardless of what stage of fitness you’re at” so I expect the phone to be ringing off the hook from Gloucester in order to get Iron Mike through this ride. Bound to be one of the fittest on the Triple Crown and certainly one to watch in his black leather onesy.

Rodger Arneil

Rodger “Septuagenarian” Arneil is now the Daddy, nay the Grand Daddy of the Triple Crown Ride and will keep young (slow down) Roger Uttley on his toes for sure. Rodger played for Scotland and 2 British & Irish Lions Tours to SA in 1968 & the winning tour to NZ in 1971, as well as playing for Edinburgh, Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints as a flanker.

 

 A keen and determined cyclist he has done the JOGLE with some fellow “experienced riders” but his penny farthing will need some extra gears to get him home to Murrayfield in time for the big finish. According to Andy Irvine he is the perfect tourist. We now have 3 Rogers on this trip, so god help the cabin boy.

Dean Richards

Dean "Deaaano Deaaano" Richards might not look like Bradley Wiggins or Alberto Contador but when commemorating a famous victory over the French he is the man to have at your side. With 48 England caps, 6 for the British & Irish Lions and 314 for Leicester not to mention his outstanding coaching career with Leicester, Harlequins and now Newcastle Falcons Dean is a great addition to the team.

 

As a number 8 Dean is yet another (large) member of the back row club at ROTL and he has more tries for Leicester than either Rory Underwood or James Hibbert combined but doesn’t smile as much. Famous for his shirt hanging out and his socks round his ankles as a player we are not sure of his cycling pedigree or penchant for lycra but there is plenty of room for more sponsors on a shirt that big !

Paul Wallace

Paul “Wally” Wallace is not new to the ROTL having ridden 3 very strong miles on last year’s Triple Crown event before getting a puncture and retiring to the safety of the bar. Paul has 45 caps for Ireland and 3 for the British & Irish Lions having played all 3 tests in SA in 1997. 

 

At the end of this winning tour Martin Johnson described him as his “player of the series” and Paul was once quite rightly regarded as the best tight head in World Rugby Tour (admittedly by his Mum) and when Os du Randt wasn’t listening (yes I know he was a loosehead). Wally played most of his club rugby for Munster, Saracens and Leinster before an ankle injury forced him into the SKY commentary box and writing for the Daily Mail and appearing on Today FM’s The Last Word, there is a face for radio joke in there somewhere.

Martin Johnson

Martin “Johnno” Johnson: now the word Leg End is thrown about too often these days, but when it comes to Lions Rugby Royalty Johnno is right up there with the very best. He might be the 425th person to make their debut for this great team but he is the only person to have the honour of captaining them on 2 different tours (SA and Australia).

 

Johnno played 84 times for England and had a very good year in 2003 (just ask the Irish and the Aussies) and had 8 caps for the British and Irish Lions spread from 1993 (NZ) to 2001. He played all of his club rugby for Leicester Tigers (307 caps) and even played for NZ U21s back in 1989 whilst on a school-exchange programme. As for cycling though Johnno might have to borrow Warwick Waugh’s bike and do his best to try and keep up with “FFS slow down” Roger Uttley, he is another very welcome new member of the peloton.

bottom of page