Sir Jimmy is not Scottish but he wears tartan trousers and loves our country, so is in some ways an honourary Scot.

Some may not know he was a semi-pro rider and rode the 1951 Tour of Britain, the year Ian Steel won. His nickname was The Duke, and after he stopped racing he continued to be involved in cycling, and loves the sport to this day.

Jimmy Saville on a custom Viking bicycle, photographed in 1965. The picture is held in the Black Country archived and not to be reproduced, so I’ve tried to skirt around this by taking a screen shot of the website. Click through to see it and read the story of the Wolverhampton-based Viking Cycle Company, which produced 20,000 bikes at its peak in ’65. It declined after that and closed only 2 years later.

Announcing at the 1959 Tour of Britain.

Spectating at the 2007 Tour of Britain.

More chat with and about Jimmy here from flickr dude John The Scone.