Ron Hayman

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Ron Hayman (born August 31, 1958) was one of the first Canadian cyclists to turn professional in the late 1970s, inspiring those following like fellow Canadian Alex Steida. Hayman was named runner-up on the list of the 10 most important Canadian cyclists of the twentieth century^[1], later becoming a Canadian cycling coach and entrepreneur.

Hayman competed on the Canadian Olympic cycling team in Munich in the 1972 Summer Olympics in the individual pursuit and again in 1976 in the team pursuit. He was a 7-time Canadian national champion on the road and on the track. In 1979, still racing as an amateur and riding on an English team 'London Australia' (Archer Road Club), he won the 1979 Tour of Ireland. Phil Anderson, Stephen Roche and Robert Millar finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind Hayman in that race and all would go on to have successful professional careers. He was ranked top amateur of the year in Belgium (1979).

He raced in as a professional from 1979 through 1988. He rode for teams like Panasonic, but his best-known team of which he was one of the seven founding members was the Schwinn 7-Eleven Cycling Team that also featured among others. Eric Heiden, Davis Phinney and later Alex Stieda.

Notable wins for Hayman included the $71,000 pro-am Great Mohawk Bicycle Race in 1981^[2], the richest purse for a professional race in North America at the time^[3], a stage win and second overall at the Redlands Bicycle Classic^[4] in 1985. He also won an unprecedented three straight Gastown Grand Prix's (1981,1982,1983), a premier criterium race in Vancouver^[5], won by other great riders like Stieda (1980), Chris Carmichael (1985) and Lance Armstrong (1991). Hayman is credited with 4 stage wins in the Coors Classic^{[citation needed]}, (for many years, the largest stage race in North America), and is credited with winning the Tour of Somerville. ^[6]

Probably Ron Hayman's most dramatic win, captured on national television was his wild sprint victory over the Italian sprinter, Silvestro Milani of Bottecchia, in Washington D.C in the final stage of the 1983 Tour of America, the only stage not won by a European. Hayman was the 7-11 team captain by this point. Later that summer, Davis Phinney narrowly beat Canadian Steve Bauer at the USPRO Criterium Championship racing against top European professional teams. Together, these wins foreshadowed the end of the European dominance of professional cycle racing.^[7]