Everybody at British Cycling was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the organisation’s former Chief Executive and General Secretary, Jim Hendry MBE, on Sunday 20 August.

Jim’s dedication to the sport of cycling spans seven decades, beginning as a pro rider with Mottram Cycles in the mid-1960s, training as a Commissaire, and then being appointed as the organisation’s Director of Racing in 1979.

He then moved into sport administration as the organisation’s Chief Executive from 1988, and subsequently General Secretary, helping to steer the organisation through a significant period of change and modernisation, including the advent of National Lottery funding for sport.

Jim was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2007 for his services to cycling, and he continued to support the organisation as its Archivist well into his retirement.

Remembering Jim, British Cycling President Bob Howden OBE said:

“Our sport owes a huge debt of gratitude to Jim for the contribution he made over many decades – a contribution which paved the way for so much of the growth and success we have witnessed within British cycling in recent years.

“I have huge admiration for the commitment and perseverance Jim showed in leading the organisation, through hard times and good, and for the love and care he still showed for our sport and its heritage well into his retirement. While he will be sorely missed, he leaves behind a lasting legacy, and the MBE he received in 2007 is a fitting recognition for a man who was truly cycling through-and-through.”

Former British Cycling President and long-time colleague of Jim, Ian Emmerson, added:

“I had the pleasure of working shoulder-to-shoulder with Jim over many years together at the British Cycling Federation, during which time we became great friends – a friendship which endured throughout his later years.

“It is difficult to do justice to Jim’s contribution to the sport of cycling over seven decades, but I have no doubt that it would be far poorer were it not for his leadership, tenacity and care.

“Jim simply lived and breathed cycling, and laid the foundations for an organisation that could have scarcely been imaginable when he was plying his trade as a rider in the 1960s. He should be recognised and remembered in the highest order.”

Former British Cycling and UCI President, Brian Cookson, added:

“For several decades, Jim was a pivotal figure in the British Cycling Federation and British Cycling in several different roles, providing a continuous thread of knowledge and experience in our sport that stretched from the 1960s and well into the 21st century.

“Perhaps the most significant thing he did in my time as President was, in 1997, to prepare the first submission for funding from the National Lottery. This allowed us to recruit the first ever Performance Director, Peter Keen, and to then establish the Great Britain Cycling Team on a sound and sustainable basis.

“Subsequent development work established the structures and mechanisms that have ensured the continuing success of our riders at the highest levels. Every rider who has benefitted from those structures to deliver that success, every member who has been thrilled and inspired by that success, over the last 25 years, owes a debt to Jim Hendry’s work and that first application for Lottery funding.”

Our thoughts and condolences are with Jim’s many friends within the sport at this difficult time.