In 1899, America's fastest cyclist was a 20-year-old Black man. The racing world spent the next century trying to erase him.
Most of us know the modern legends of cycling, but the story of Marshall "Major" Taylor is something else entirely.
In 1899, riding single-gear track bikes that weigh a ton by today's standards, Major Taylor became the world cycling champion. He was the first Black American world champion in cycling, and only the second Black athlete to win a world title in ANY sport.
The things he had to endure just to race are insane. Promoters banned him from southern velodromes. White riders would explicitly form pockets to box him in during sprints, and some literally tried to choke him unconscious right after he crossed the finish line.
Despite breaking multiple world records and becoming a massive star in Europe, he died completely broke in 1932 and was thrown into an unmarked pauper's grave in Chicago. It took 16 years for a group of former pro cyclists (funded by Frank Schwinn) to finally dig him up and give him a proper headstone.
Has anyone here ever read Andrew Ritchie's biography on him, or visited his restored grave in Cook County? Would love to hear thoughts from other cycling history nerds.