Yorkshire cyclist Gordon 'Tiny' Thomas who won silver medal at London 1948 dies at age of 91

Yorkshire cyclist Gordon Thomas, winner of the 1953 Tour of Britain and a silver medallist at the London Olympic Games in 1948, has died at the age of 91. His death comes five months after that of another of Great Britain’s 1948 Olympic medal-winning cyclists, Tommy Godwin.

Nicknamed ‘Tiny’ as a result of the talent he showed when he joined the Yorkshire Road Club at the age of 12 Thomas won his Olympic silver medal for Great Britain in the team road race, where he rode alongside Bob Maitland and Ian Scott. The race was won by Belgium.

The Bradford Telegraph & Argus reports that when Thomas attended an event to mark the centenary of the British Olympic Association in 2005, he was reunited with the jersey he wore at the 1948 Olympics, returned to him by the son of Gerry Poole, who had spotted his talent as a youngster.

Thomas, who had served in the Royal Artillery in Africa and Italy during World War II, retired from competition after that Tour of Britain win in 1953 at the age of 32, when he rode with BSA Cycles, although he would retain close links with the Yorkshire Road Club throughout his life.

He passed away at the Thorpe Hall Hospice last Wednesday, although he lived in Yorkshire until the last few weeks of his life where his funeral will take place, at the Nab Wood Crematorium, Shipley, at 12.40pm next Tuesday 23 April.

He leaves two sons and his family have requested that any donations be made to the Sue Ryder cancer charity, which operates Thorpe Hall.