John Allis (b. May 31, 1942) is an American cyclist who was a member of the first wave of Americans to enter international cycling competition in the 1970s. Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cycling is the use of Bicycles or - less commonly - Unicycles Tricycles Quadricycles and other similar wheeled Human powered vehicles Bicycle racing encompasses many forms in which Bicycles are used for competition This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Together with other great American riders of that period, including John Howard, Allis laid the groundwork for the American champions of the 1980s, including Greg Lemond and Andy Hampsten, who in turn made possible the careers of Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and others. See also Howard Government John Winston Howard AC (born 26 July 1939 was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 11 March Gregory James "Greg" LeMond (born June 26, 1961 in Lakewood California) is a former professional Road bicycle racer from the Andrew Hampsten (born April 7, 1962 in Columbus Ohio) is an American cyclist best remembered for winning the 1988 Giro d'Italia and the Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson September 18 1971 is an American professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Team Astana Levi Leipheimer (born October 24 1973 in Butte Montana) is an American professional Road bicycle racer who rides with UCI ProTeam Team Astana
Allis began racing while a student at Princeton University, and had not yet graduated when he led three of his Princeton teammates to compete in the World Road Championships in Ronse, Belgium. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Ronse ( Renaix in French) is a Belgian City and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders The team performed poorly in the road race, but better in the time trial, where they took 20th place. This was the first American presence in international cycling competition since the era of Major Taylor. Marshall Walter ("Major" Taylor ( November 26 1878 &ndash June 21 1932) was an American
When his teammates returned to the United States, Allis stayed to race in Europe, signing on as a category 1 amateur with the large and influential French ACBB team. Athletic Club de Boulogne Billencourt or ACBB is a French sports club in the suburbs of Paris in the commune of Boulogne-Billancourt He was the first English speaker ever to ride for the team.
Despite the skepticism of French cycling enthusiasts, who informed him that Americans were biologically unfit to compete, Allis did achieve victories, including Paris to Cayeux-sur-Mer in 1964. The team was so surprised to see their American rider win that they had to scramble to find him a clean jersey to wear on the podium; he had been given the worst one in the shop. His victory was covered in L'Équipe and mentioned in the New York Times. L'Équipe ( French for "the team" is a French nationwide daily Newspaper devoted to Sports The paper is noted for coverage
Allis returned home to complete his Princeton degree. In his senior year, he participated in his first Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games He was selected for Men's Individual Road Race, but was under academic probation and the school almost declined to allow him to attend. However, somebody pointed out to the administration that Harvard and Yale each had two Olympians that year and that, without Allis, Princeton would have had only one (Bill Bradley). William Warren "Bill" Bradley (born July 28 1943 is an American hall of fame Basketball player Rhodes scholar, and former He produced the best American result in the event that year, taking 66th place. Allis also raced in the team time trial in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and the road race at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where he took 63rd.
After a brief stint in the army, Allis shone in American racing in the early 1970s, organizing along with Dave Chauner the Raleigh team that dominated American racing, and personally winning an impressive slate of races. These included the US National Road Championship in 1974, which he won by applying brutal tactics against the newcomer Tommy Officer, the 175-mile Quebec-Montreal race in 1973, and two runnings of the Mount Washington Hill Climb. He retired from national competition in 1976.
Remarkably, Allis achieved all his victories as an amateur. He would have liked to have entered the European professional circuit but was denied the opportunity in 1969 by the management of ACBB, who declared he was already "too old" to make the jump.
Today, Allis lives in Massachusetts with his wife Kim, and has two daughters, Paget and Galen. He is co-owner of the Belmont Wheelworks and Ace Wheelworks bike stores, and has coached the Harvard University cycling team since 1980. He was inducted into the U. S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1993.
Sources
- The Ride magazine, issue 103, 2002
- History of the Princeton Cycling Team: http://www.princetoncycling.com/photos/old/mem/history.html
- Bicycling Hall of Fame Induction summary: http://www.usbhof.com/inductees/1993.cfm
- Outside Magazine September 2004
- conversations with John Allis, 1992
- http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2005/01/the_somerville_.html
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