World Champion Road and Track Cyclist. Born Reginald Hargreaves in the hamlet of Birtle, near Bury, Lancashire, his musician father died when he was six. When his mother remarried 'Reg' took the surname of his stepfather. He left school without qualifications and became an apprentice motor mechanic. Aged 14yrs, he bought his first bike and entered a roller racing competition and joined the local cycling club. In 1935 he won his first race, a half mile race on grass. He changes jobs and found one in a slipper factory where he could concentrate on racing during the summer months, and return to his job in the winter. During 1936 he won his first events at the Fallowfield Velodrome in Manchester. He continued to win races and the following year won a major race which led to him being selected for the World Championships in Italy. World War 2 broke out and Reg returned to the UK, enlisted in the Army, and went to North Africa with the 10th Hussars as a tank driver. His tank was attacked and caught fire, and although injured he escaped. Invalided out of the Army he eventually resumed his cycle racing winning three national championships in 1944. He raced in the 1946 World Championships in Zurich and in 1947 won the World Amateur Sprint title in Paris. It was expected that he would enter the 1948 Olympics and win three titles but a couple of serious road crashes meant racing in a plaster cast and failing to get gold medals. In 1949 he turned professional when he raced for the Raleigh bicycle company winning the World Professional Sprint Championship in Copenhagen. He continued to win the World Championship in 1950 in Belgium and 1951 in Milan, then finally in 1954 in Cologne. He became known as one of the UKs most famous sportsmen then retired from the sport in 1957. Reg was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1958. He took up various business ventures including manufacturing the Reg Harris range of bikes. In 1971 he returned to racing and in 1974 won the British Championship in Leicester at the age of 54yrs. He returned the following year and won a bronze medal. Cycling was always in his blood and he continued to ride until his death of a stroke aged 72yrs. The stadium at Fallowfield where he gained his early successes was named the Reg Harris Stadium.