About Steve Joughin

Steve Joughin (born 23 June 1959) is a former professional Manx road racing cyclist. He was the first Manxman ever win the British professional road race title. He is arguably one of the best UK riders of his generation, riding in the 1980s which was the golden age of British racing.

Cycling career

His first cycling race as a youngster was around King Georges Park in Douglas racing in jeans and trainers. However he enjoyed the camaraderie of racing and soon joined the Manx Road Club.

By the age of 16 he realised he had talent and won the Merseyside divisional road race championships in 1976 and 1977. He then became the first Manx rider to win the national junior road race series and the British Junior Road race championship. In 1978 he competed in the individual road race at the Commonwealth Games, finishing 27th after crashing on the final lap. The gold medal was won by Phil Anderson.

In 1980 he won the Premier Calendar series, whilst riding for the all conquering Manchester Wheelers' Club. However he missed out on selection for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. At the end of the 1980 season Joughin decided he would spend the 1981 season living and racing in France. However he didn’t settle and was back within a few months. As he wasn’t prepared to live in a hovel scratching around trying to win races in the hope of being offered a professional contract. Instead he opted to live and race in the UK, now and again beating the big stars when they came over.

The following season he again won the Premier Calendar series and competed at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. However the highlight was arguably winning a Stage in the Sealink International after outsprinting Dirk De Wolf, the eventual race winner. He was also third in the British National Road Race Championships, the race was won by Jeff Williams. Joughin then turned professional in 1983, aged 23, with the Moducel team which was based in Staffordshire. In only his second season as a professional he won the British National Road Race Championships in 1984. The race was held on the home soil for Joughin, in the Isle of Man and attracted huge crowds. In 1986 Joughin won two stages of the Milk Race leaving behind Djamolidine Abdoujaparov.

After four seasons with Moducel he joined Percy Bilton riding alongside Bob Downs and John Herety. That same season he had arguably his greatest ever victory winning the first stage in the 1987 Kellogg's Tour of Britain, beating some of the biggest names in the sport of cycling such as Sean Kelly. Joughin got into a breakaway and then as he approached the finish in the city of Birmingham unleashed his trademark sprint.[2] In 1988 he had one season riding for Ever Ready alongside Tony Doyle and again won the British National Road Race Championships. However after just one season he returned to Percy Bilton riding alongside Paul Curran. His last season was 1991 riding for K.J.C. - Revelation.

Joughin showed that he could beat some of the fastest Sprinters in the world. However his inability to climb restricted his Palmarès.

1977    1º in Haverhill (GBR) 
1979    3º in Lincoln International GP (GBR) 
1979    1º in Manx International, Amateurs (GBR) 
1980    1º in GP d'Essex (FRA) 
1980    1º in GP des Vainqueurs (FRA) 
1980    1º in Grand Prix of Essex (GBR) 
1980    1º in Lincoln International GP (GBR) 
1980    1º in Premier Calendar Road Series (GBR) 
1980    1º in Stage 1 London - Glasgow (GBR) 
1981    1º in Stage 1 Milk Race, Bournemouth (GBR) 
1981    3º in Stage 4 part a Milk Race, Sandiacre (GBR) 
1981    2º in Stage 4 part b Milk Race, Sandiacre (GBR) 
1981    1º in Tour of the Peaks (GBR) 
1982    1º in Archer International Grand Prix (GBR) 
1982    1º in Grand Prix of Essex (GBR) 
1982    2º in Manx International, Amateurs (GBR) 
1982    3º in National Championship, Road, Amateurs, Great Britain (GBR) 
1982    1º in Premier Calendar Road Series (GBR) 
1982    1º in Stage 2 part a Sealink Race, Gravesend (GBR) 
1982    1º in Tour of the Cotswolds (GBR) 
1983    3º in Glasgow Criterium (GBR) 
1983    2º in Hull (GBR) 
1983    1º in Manchester (c) (GBR) 
1983    1º in Stage 3 Penn (GBR) 
1983    1º in Port Sunlight (GBR) 
1983    1º in Stafford (GBR) 
1983    1º in Hereford (GBR) 
1983    1º in Hove (GBR) 
1984    3º in Cardiff (GBR) 
1984    1º in National Championship, Road, Elite, Great Britain (GBR) 
1984    1º in Peterborough, Petersborough (GBR) 
1984    2º in Nottingham, Nottingham (GBR) 
1984    1º in Stafford, Stafford (GBR) 
1984    2º in York, York (GBR) 
1984    3º in Hereford, Hereford (GBR) 
1984    3º in Penn, Penn (GBR) 
1985    3º in Cardiff (GBR) 
1985    3º in Cardiff (b) (GBR) 
1985    1º in Derby (GBR) 
1985    3º in Eversham (GBR) 
1985    2º in Glasgow Criterium (GBR) 
1985    3º in Hull (GBR) 
1985    1º in Manchester (GBR) 
1985    1º in Stafford (GBR) 
1985    1º in Telford (GBR) 
1985    1º in Milton Keynes (GBR) 
1985    3º in Milton Keynes (b) (GBR) 
1986    1º in Stage 12 Milk Race, London (GBR) 
1986    1º in Stage 1 Milk Race, Blackpool (GBR) 
1986    2º in Aintree (GBR) 
1986    2º in Bradford (b) (GBR) 
1986    1º in Castleton (GBR) 
1986    3º in Eastway (GBR) 
1986    1º in Hanley (GBR) 
1986    1º in Hereford (GBR) 
1986    1º in Holderness (GBR) 
1986    2º in Leeds (GBR) 
1986    2º in Leek (-GB-) (GBR) 
1986    3º in National Championship, Road, Elite, Great Britain (GBR) 
1986    2º in Northampton (USA) 
1986    1º in Willaston (GBR) 
1987    1º in Stage 3 Kellogg's Tour of Britain, Birmingham (GBR) 
1987    2º in Stage 1 Milk Race, Newton Aycliff (GBR) 
1987    1º in Norwich, Criterium (GBR) 
1987    1º in Stage 1 Tour of Lancashire (GBR) 
1987    2º in General Classification Tour of Lancashire (GBR) 
1987    1º in Winderhere (GBR) 
1987    1º in Withernsea (GBR) 
1988    3º in Eastway (GBR) 
1988    1º in Stage 1 Girvan (GBR) 
1988    3º in Ipswich (GBR) 
1988    1º in National Championship, Road, Elite, Great Britain (GBR) 
1988    1º in Stage 1 Saltburn-Altburn (GBR) 
1988    3º in Sheffield (GBR) 
1988    2º in Wolverhampton (GBR) 
1988    3º in Lincoln (b) (GBR) 
1989    3º in Stage 2 Milk Race, Bristol (GBR) 
1989    1º in Stage 6 Milk Race, Liverpool (GBR) 
1989    3º in Prologue Milk Race, Welwyn Garden (GBR) 
1989    3º in Edingburgh (GBR) 
1989    1º in Stage 3 Girvan (GBR) 
1989    1º in London - Eastway (GBR) 
1989    1º in March Haare Meeting (GBR) 
1989    2º in Shaw (GBR) 
1989    2º in Snarestone (GBR) 
1989    1º in Southend (GBR) 
1989    1º in Southend (b) (GBR) 
1990    1º in Winderhere (GBR) 
1991    1º in Abergavenny (c) (GBR)