Tony Doyle (left with Danny Clark) was not just a legend on a bike, but a legend as a person. Kind and caring off his bike, but a fierce competitor on it. He was taken far too soon by cancer in 2023.
Tony was Britain’s best-ever six-day racer and when partnered with Australian Danny Clarke almost unbeatable. They won their first six-days, Berlin and Dortmund, in 1983. Doyle won Bremen in 1985 with Gary Wiggins, Sir Bradley’s father. Then Doyle was Clarke’s regular partner, winning 16 six-days together.
“We were so successful the promoters started splitting us up, paring us with different riders so we didn’t dominate things, or so they said. I think another reason was that Danny (Clarke) was closing on Patrick Sercu’s record of 82 six-days. Sercu is Belgian, I think there was European pride involved; they didn’t want Danny breaking Sercu’s record. He won 77 six-days, but he could have won more with me,” Tony told Chris.
Doyle achieved a six-day victory total of 20 in 1991, partnered with Etienne De Wilde in Ghent. Tony wasn’t quite the rider he used to be due to a life-threatening crash in the 1989 Munich Six-Day.
Professional six-day riders are incredibly fast, and because of that must be incredibly skilled. Competitors race with total trust, but occasionally someone makes a mistake, and when racing is full on it can have disastrous consequences. In Munich in 1989 one of Doyle’s fellow competitors made a mistake, and it was disastrous for Doyle.
He collided with the rider, was flung from his bike and knocked unconscious. He suffered multiple fractures and a serious head injury. He was in a coma for 10 days, and it was touch and go if he’d live. Doyle spent six weeks in intensive care, followed by two months rehab.
Few thought he’d race again, but he didn’t just race, Doyle won two more six-days, including that final one with De Wilde. He continued until 1994, but a crash during the Zurich Six-day, in which he broke his back, finally ended Tony Doyle’s racing career.
