John Woodburn (cyclist)
British racing cyclist
John Woodburn (1936 – 14 April 2017) was an English road and individual time trial cyclist. He was national 25-mile champion in 1961, RTTC British Best All-Rounder in 1978, and holder of several UK Road Records Association place-to-place cycling records.
Time trial competition
He was RTTC national 25-mile time trial champion in 1961, and currently holds age-related records.
In 2001, Woodburn received his award as best British Veteran from Eddy Merckx at the RTTC Champions Evening at Derby, on 6 January.
In July 2002, he broke the 50 mile time-trial National Age Record for over 65s. He completed the Didcot course fourth overall in 1 hour 47 minutes and 40 seconds, breaking the record by nearly three minutes. He had been aiming for the record for two years and, recently retired, he had been using his new free time to put in extra training. At 70, he rode a 10-mile time trial in 21 minutes 48 seconds.
Distance records
Aged 45, Woodburn set a Land's End to John O' Groats (end-to-end) record in 1982 with a time of 45 hours, 3 minutes and 16 seconds. His record remained for over eight years until beaten by Andy Wilkinson in October 1990 by less than a minute (45hrs, 2 minutes, 18 seconds).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “John Woodburn (cyclist)” is british racing cyclist. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through John, Woodburn and cyclist, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “british racing cyclist” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 2, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q6264794. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936, 2017, 1961 and 1978.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “John Woodburn (cyclist)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow John Woodburn (cyclist) primary sources, John Woodburn (cyclist) archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Woodburn (cyclist)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “John Woodburn (cyclist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.