British Cycling has announced that 84 year-old Mick Ives from Coventry, who amassed 81 British National Championship titles and 8 World Masters Cycling titles, passed away on Thursday after suffering a series of recent heart attacks.

Ives’ cycling career saw him race almost non-stop for 60 years, representing Great Britain at road, track, time trial, MTB and cyclo-cross events worldwide, reportedly earning over 1000 victories. 

Long before EF Education pro Lachlan Morton dreamed of riding an “Alt Tour,” 65 year-old Ives rode the 2005 Tour de France route solo, finishing “in one day less than the race itself,” said longtime friend Rory Hitchens. Twelve years later, aged 78, he repeated a similar feat on the 3400 kilometer Giro D’Italia route, while raising funds for charity.

During his career he raced for many prominent British teams, including Viscount Cycles, Peugeot Cycles, Ever Ready, Ridgeback, Scott UK and Saracen Bikes. He was also a member of the 1990 British national MTB team that competed in the inaugural UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Colorado, USA.

Until the very end Ives was a passionate supporter of the sport, even convincing British Cycling to award national championship titles for the 70+ age category in mountain biking and cyclo-cross in his final days.

Photo Credit: BBC

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