Feargal McKay
@cycologies.com
Reviewing cycling books and writing about professional cycling's mythological past and the reality behind the stories told and retold by cycling's duff historians
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Again, this is why it's important to know who actually wrote the articles that make up Holland's book.
Many were for Cycling.
Cycling wasn't going to give their rival publisher any credit unless they absolutely had to.
Which is partly how men like Bill Mills get erased from cycling history.
Many were for Cycling.
Cycling wasn't going to give their rival publisher any credit unless they absolutely had to.
Which is partly how men like Bill Mills get erased from cycling history.
November 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Again, this is why it's important to know who actually wrote the articles that make up Holland's book.
Many were for Cycling.
Cycling wasn't going to give their rival publisher any credit unless they absolutely had to.
Which is partly how men like Bill Mills get erased from cycling history.
Many were for Cycling.
Cycling wasn't going to give their rival publisher any credit unless they absolutely had to.
Which is partly how men like Bill Mills get erased from cycling history.
Something I am not clear on is why Charlie Holland turned professional. His book tells us it was late April before he took the plunge.
Was it Bill Mills at the Bicycle who convinced him to join the cash ranks?
Was it Bill Mills at the Bicycle who convinced him to join the cash ranks?
November 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Something I am not clear on is why Charlie Holland turned professional. His book tells us it was late April before he took the plunge.
Was it Bill Mills at the Bicycle who convinced him to join the cash ranks?
Was it Bill Mills at the Bicycle who convinced him to join the cash ranks?
And here you have Mills and Bailey trying to organise a Tour team, and ultimately playing a pivotal role in getting Desgrange to accept the entry of Holland and Burl ("Ginseng! Green tea!").
I'm still trying to find our more about their plans for that 1937 Tour team ...
I'm still trying to find our more about their plans for that 1937 Tour team ...
November 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
And here you have Mills and Bailey trying to organise a Tour team, and ultimately playing a pivotal role in getting Desgrange to accept the entry of Holland and Burl ("Ginseng! Green tea!").
I'm still trying to find our more about their plans for that 1937 Tour team ...
I'm still trying to find our more about their plans for that 1937 Tour team ...
To step back a bit for a moment:
Mills had wanted to ride the 1932 Tour
Back in England he + Vic Jenner brought back massed-start racing with their Brooklands race.
More races were organised. Mills evangelised for massed-start racing.
In 1936 he + Bailey started The Bicycle + promoted a film.
Mills had wanted to ride the 1932 Tour
Back in England he + Vic Jenner brought back massed-start racing with their Brooklands race.
More races were organised. Mills evangelised for massed-start racing.
In 1936 he + Bailey started The Bicycle + promoted a film.
November 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
To step back a bit for a moment:
Mills had wanted to ride the 1932 Tour
Back in England he + Vic Jenner brought back massed-start racing with their Brooklands race.
More races were organised. Mills evangelised for massed-start racing.
In 1936 he + Bailey started The Bicycle + promoted a film.
Mills had wanted to ride the 1932 Tour
Back in England he + Vic Jenner brought back massed-start racing with their Brooklands race.
More races were organised. Mills evangelised for massed-start racing.
In 1936 he + Bailey started The Bicycle + promoted a film.
But within weeks - early in January 1937 - the plans seemed to be taking shape and the talk was of a four-man team at the Tour.
November 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
But within weeks - early in January 1937 - the plans seemed to be taking shape and the talk was of a four-man team at the Tour.
Right from the off, the naysayers were talking down British cycling.
November 29, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Right from the off, the naysayers were talking down British cycling.
This, for instance, is from November 1936:
November 29, 2025 at 5:44 PM
This, for instance, is from November 1936:
The short answer to that is that for at least the previous nine months the British had been talking of entering a team in the 1937 Tour.
And by the British I mean my mate Bill Mills and his business partner Bill Bailey. And that's a story you won't find the likes of Fotheringham telling you.
And by the British I mean my mate Bill Mills and his business partner Bill Bailey. And that's a story you won't find the likes of Fotheringham telling you.
November 29, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The short answer to that is that for at least the previous nine months the British had been talking of entering a team in the 1937 Tour.
And by the British I mean my mate Bill Mills and his business partner Bill Bailey. And that's a story you won't find the likes of Fotheringham telling you.
And by the British I mean my mate Bill Mills and his business partner Bill Bailey. And that's a story you won't find the likes of Fotheringham telling you.
While all that tells us what happened in the fortnight before the Tour, I don't really know what had happened before that.
How did Holland come to think he had a signed contract to enter the Tour?
Why did L'Auto think a full team of British riders was being organised and not just two individuals?
How did Holland come to think he had a signed contract to enter the Tour?
Why did L'Auto think a full team of British riders was being organised and not just two individuals?
November 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
While all that tells us what happened in the fortnight before the Tour, I don't really know what had happened before that.
How did Holland come to think he had a signed contract to enter the Tour?
Why did L'Auto think a full team of British riders was being organised and not just two individuals?
How did Holland come to think he had a signed contract to enter the Tour?
Why did L'Auto think a full team of British riders was being organised and not just two individuals?
It was, then, clearly the Comic what won Tour entry for the Brits
Well, according to themselves it was.
According to L'Auto, however, this was bunkum and the real credit was due to Bill Mills and Bill Bailey at the Comic's rival, the Bicycle.
Well, according to themselves it was.
According to L'Auto, however, this was bunkum and the real credit was due to Bill Mills and Bill Bailey at the Comic's rival, the Bicycle.
November 29, 2025 at 5:24 PM
It was, then, clearly the Comic what won Tour entry for the Brits
Well, according to themselves it was.
According to L'Auto, however, this was bunkum and the real credit was due to Bill Mills and Bill Bailey at the Comic's rival, the Bicycle.
Well, according to themselves it was.
According to L'Auto, however, this was bunkum and the real credit was due to Bill Mills and Bill Bailey at the Comic's rival, the Bicycle.
In his Daily News article, Bill Mills had written that "Strong protests are being made to the race organisers." And just few days after saying there wouldn't be a British team, L'Auto announced there would be a French team.
Who gets the credit for the volte face?
Here's Holland in the Comic:
Who gets the credit for the volte face?
Here's Holland in the Comic:
![Immediately we [Holland and Cycling's editor] decided to send a telegram to L'Auto asking for a statement on the position, and it was not until the next day [June 17th] that I received a final telegram – sent care of Cycling's Birmingham office, which ran as follows: 'Following your wire dated yesterday agree engagement if you agree yours – L'Auto.' Naturally, I agreed to the new arrangement, whereby Bill Burl, Pierre Gachon of Canada and myself would comprise the British Empire's Ace team. Previously it was decided that we should ride as individuals.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mpz4d6cysl2lek6eokvvtmbb/bafkreicycmemyys4iug65265pm3ee7y2v4pvej5zbvaejr2kvhx7z3qquq@jpeg)
November 29, 2025 at 5:24 PM
In his Daily News article, Bill Mills had written that "Strong protests are being made to the race organisers." And just few days after saying there wouldn't be a British team, L'Auto announced there would be a French team.
Who gets the credit for the volte face?
Here's Holland in the Comic:
Who gets the credit for the volte face?
Here's Holland in the Comic:
Over in L'Auto, though, the story wasn't the British being thrown over in favour of the Italians. It was about the British fannying about and not getting the finger out:
November 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Over in L'Auto, though, the story wasn't the British being thrown over in favour of the Italians. It was about the British fannying about and not getting the finger out:
A last minute team of Italians was not to be sniffed at, not when it included Gino Bartali who, a fortnight earlier, had won the Giro d'Italia.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A last minute team of Italians was not to be sniffed at, not when it included Gino Bartali who, a fortnight earlier, had won the Giro d'Italia.
Are you curious why Holland didn't name the English daily in which the news had appeared?
It was the Daily News, a column written by Bill Mills. Whose own cycling weekly, the Bicycle, was in direct competition with the Comic.
Which is why knowing who actually wrote Holland's diary entries matters.
It was the Daily News, a column written by Bill Mills. Whose own cycling weekly, the Bicycle, was in direct competition with the Comic.
Which is why knowing who actually wrote Holland's diary entries matters.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Are you curious why Holland didn't name the English daily in which the news had appeared?
It was the Daily News, a column written by Bill Mills. Whose own cycling weekly, the Bicycle, was in direct competition with the Comic.
Which is why knowing who actually wrote Holland's diary entries matters.
It was the Daily News, a column written by Bill Mills. Whose own cycling weekly, the Bicycle, was in direct competition with the Comic.
Which is why knowing who actually wrote Holland's diary entries matters.
The most interesting part of the story, though, is the beginning. Here's how Holland told that, how just two weeks before the Tour started he discovered he wasn't entered to ride the race:
![I had signed a contract to ride the Tour de France and at the same time posted to a few friends, including the Editor of Cycling, intimation that I had done so. Exactly two weeks before the race was due to start [June 16th] I met Cycling's Editor at his Birmingham office. He had two newspapers with him, the French L'Auto and an English daily. Much to my amazement, L'Auto, which newspaper is, of course, the promoter of the Tour, stated that neither Bill Burl nor myself would be riding the race. The English newspaper gave similar information, and as the writer was supposed to know something about it, I was in an awkward predicament in view of the arrangements I had made.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mpz4d6cysl2lek6eokvvtmbb/bafkreictnf7mjkpru4g4u4z4r2g4gnxf4bj52knoqpbtebqzdppmlees2i@jpeg)
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The most interesting part of the story, though, is the beginning. Here's how Holland told that, how just two weeks before the Tour started he discovered he wasn't entered to ride the race:
As for Desgrange being happy to lose him - this is unlikely, he loved championing underdogs. But there is a certain type of Briton who likes to believe the French are forever against them. Then and now.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
As for Desgrange being happy to lose him - this is unlikely, he loved championing underdogs. But there is a certain type of Briton who likes to believe the French are forever against them. Then and now.
But even in Holland's own telling, after his pump broke he was offered all sorts of assistance but refused it time and again.
So it wasn't for the want of a washer that he went home. He simply seems to have been fed up with the whole thing.
So it wasn't for the want of a washer that he went home. He simply seems to have been fed up with the whole thing.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
But even in Holland's own telling, after his pump broke he was offered all sorts of assistance but refused it time and again.
So it wasn't for the want of a washer that he went home. He simply seems to have been fed up with the whole thing.
So it wasn't for the want of a washer that he went home. He simply seems to have been fed up with the whole thing.
There's two parts of the story I have questions over: the beginning and the end (I haven't really got to questioning the bit in the middle yet).
The end is usually abbreviated the way Fotheringham did: Holland's pump broke, putting him out of the Tour with Desgrange happy about this.
The end is usually abbreviated the way Fotheringham did: Holland's pump broke, putting him out of the Tour with Desgrange happy about this.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
There's two parts of the story I have questions over: the beginning and the end (I haven't really got to questioning the bit in the middle yet).
The end is usually abbreviated the way Fotheringham did: Holland's pump broke, putting him out of the Tour with Desgrange happy about this.
The end is usually abbreviated the way Fotheringham did: Holland's pump broke, putting him out of the Tour with Desgrange happy about this.
The main source for the story is the book Dancing Uphill, put out by Charlie Holland's daughter, Frances in 2007. The Tour bits of the story come from a series of 'diary' articles published in the Comic. Whether Holland wrote them himself or whether they were ghosted for him isn't clear.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The main source for the story is the book Dancing Uphill, put out by Charlie Holland's daughter, Frances in 2007. The Tour bits of the story come from a series of 'diary' articles published in the Comic. Whether Holland wrote them himself or whether they were ghosted for him isn't clear.
This is how William Fotheringham told their story in his Roule Britannia book about British riders and the Tour:
![The isolation was not total. One Briton, Bill Mills, rode for a Paris-based professional team in the 1930s. Two more, Bill Burl and Charly Holland, had been invited to the Tour in 1937. […] At the end of June 1937, England had been the only onlooker at Victoria station when Charles Holland and Bill Burl boarded the Golden Arrow for Paris and the great bike race. They were accompanied by 'very little luggage apart from two pairs of handlebars'; bikes, standard yellow, were provided by the Tour organisers.
They were handicapped partly by injury – Burl was getting over broken ribs, Holland a fractured collarbone – and partly by inexperience. The greatest bugbear, however, was that they had no experienced back-up or support staff and were constantly forced to ask for help from other teams. Holland had ridden the world road-race championship, but he and Burl started the Tour in almost total ignorance. 'The riders who live near the mountains practise, so I am told, coming round the bends at terrific speeds... Cornering plays an important part. I hope to learn all about it!' wrote Holland before the start for England's magazine.
The Tour of the 1930s was as much a test of individual initiative as of physical strength. Burl and Holland were issued their race bikes only to find they were not in working order. The bikes were cloistered away before the start to avoid tampering, to enter the room to work on them the riders needed a pass from the race organisers, who, at the vital moment, were at a banquet. Cobbled roads, huge potholes nicknamed 'birds nests', unlit tunnels in the mountains and tramlines in town centres meant crashes were a constant danger. Most of the higher cols were unmetalled, and turned to mud as the snow melted. 'No matter what the weather, we always arrive at the end of a stage covered in mud, dirt or tar,' wrote Holland. Nick-named 'Sir Holland' by the French, he lasted fourteen days as the lone representative of the three-man 'Empire Aces' team, two c…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mpz4d6cysl2lek6eokvvtmbb/bafkreiaegrxb3i33pviavnvkmn5qgumu6xpohiln4afltdz7qchztvrelu@jpeg)
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
This is how William Fotheringham told their story in his Roule Britannia book about British riders and the Tour:
The story of how Holland and Burl (not the health food shops) got to the Tour is a classic of the genre, a proper "it'll be alright on the night" story that veers between farce and impressive.
November 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The story of how Holland and Burl (not the health food shops) got to the Tour is a classic of the genre, a proper "it'll be alright on the night" story that veers between farce and impressive.
Writing is so much easier when you can just jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.
November 29, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Writing is so much easier when you can just jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.