Cycling 11 September 1935

An Australian superstar hoovers up British records

Hubert Opperman was a big deal in the 1930s. The Australian first travelled to Europe in the late 1920s and by 1935 had already ridden the Tour de France twice. There his chances had been thwarted courtesy of being part of an Australian team that lacked both strength and depth. He would instead excel as an individual at long distance events and records. In 1931 he won Paris-Brest-Paris – when it was still a race – but it was from the mid to late 30s that he broke record after record, many of which were in the UK.