Paul Jesson (born 14 January 1955) is a retired New Zealand professional racing cyclist. Jesson became the first New Zealander to win a stage at a grand tour when he won Stage 10 of the 1980 Vuelta a España.[1]

Paul Jesson
Personal information
Born (1955-01-14) 14 January 1955 (age 69)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Professional team
1979–1981Splendor
Major wins
Grand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (1980)

Jesson's first professional race for Splendor was the 1979 Tour de France. This occurred because his team did not have enough riders to start.[2]

In the prologue of the 1980 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré Jesson hit a parked car resulting in a serious crash. He was admitted to hospital where he was unconscious for a week and had his leg amputated below the knee.[1] Although the injury ended his professional racing career he did go on to win medals at the Paralympics[3]

Major results

edit

Sources:[4][5][6]

1976
1st   Overall Tour of Southland
1st Overall Ster Van Henegouwen
1st Stage 7
1977
2nd Overall Tour of Southland
1978
1st   Overall Tour of Southland
2nd Overall Tour de Wallonie
2nd Overall Tour de Liège
1979
4th Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
1980
1st Stage 10 Vuelta a España
2nd Ronde de Montauroux [fr]
3rd Nokere Koerse
1998
1st   4000m Paralympic Pursuit World Championship[7]
1st   18km Time trial Paralympic World Championship
2004
3rd   Summer Paralympics Road race/Time trial

Grand Tour results

edit
Grand Tour 1979 1980
  Vuelta a España 29
  Giro d'Italia
  Tour de France DNF

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "'Oh, THAT Tour': The Paul Jesson Story". pezcycling. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Paul Jesson". cyclingarchives. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Paralympics: NZ team head for Athens". nzherald. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Paul Jesson". procyclingstats. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Paul Jesson". firstcycling. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Paul Jesson". cyclingarchives. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Road cycling not a sport for the faint-hearted, as former Kiwi star recalls". stuff.co.nz. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
edit