THE FIRST IMPEY

DARYL IMPEY IS A HOUSEHOLD NAME in South Africa, the first of our countrymen to wear the Tour de France’s fabled Yellow Jersey and one of very few to have won stages at the biggest bike race in the world. His brother Grant is also an accomplished cyclist

- TIM BRINK

But a generation ago, their dad was equally famous – one of the proper hard men, in an era when professional cycling was front-page news across South Africa. Tony Impey won three stages and the Yellow Jersey in the Rapport Tour, triumphed in the Zoo Lake Classic, Il Campione and the SA Games 4000m pursuit, and was national champion in the 20km and individual pursuit on the track.

In an era when that meant racing against the likes of Alan van Heerden and Willie Engelbrecht (and others), much of it spent on teams with and in service to those two greats, that’s quite some palmares.

In 1989 Tony retired from racing, and opened the bike shop in Bedfordview he still runs today.

I still ride my bike… 

I’m 68 years old now, but of course I still ride. It’s an ongoing passion.

The biggest characters when I raced were…