CYCLIST David Stone inscribed his name alongside British sporting greats James Hunt and Jackie Stewart with a historic victory at Brands Hatch to defend his Paralympic road race crown at London 2012.
Making up for losing his time-trial title at the infamous motor-racing venue on Wednesday and having to settle for bronze, Stone won a titanic tussle with Italy's Giorgio Farroni, finally breaking clear in the closing stages to seal victory by seven seconds, completing the 24km course in 45.17 minutes.
Great Britain's golden summer of cycling continued as Stone added Great Britain's seventh road medal of the Paralympics and the third gold after Sarah Storey's heroics brought her level with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as the most successful British Paralympian.
It all began, of course, with Bradley Wiggins' historic Tour de France victory before Great Britain's Olympians and Paralympians swept the board in the London 2012 velodrome, .
And while tricycle rider Stone failed to match his double gold-medal feat of 2008, the 31-year-old believes his London 2012 victory is his greatest achievement.
"It was the best race of my life. It makes the win better as it wasn't easy," said Stone, 31, who won double World Championship gold in 2010. "It shows how much stronger the competition is. Compared to Beijing, the field is so much harder now. It's good, it pushes me, it makes it a much better sport.
"I made my move, but Giorgio Farroni stayed with me. It was so hard. But the crowd were fantastic. I couldn't let them down."
Stone earned the right to be spoken of in the same breath as Formula One icons Hunt and Stewart with a gruelling win in the baking sun.
He and Farroni broke clear of the pack along with Hans-Peter Durst – only for the German to abandon the race.
Stone and Farroni were nip-and-tuck throughout the last lap, with the Italian seemingly more comfortable uphill but the Briton able to temporarily pull clear on the downhill sections. After attacking several times, only for Farroni to catch up again, Stone finally broke free towards the finish to take Great Britain's total of cycling medals at these Games to 22, eight of them gold. And he isn't finished yet.
Stone added: "I definitely want to be there in Rio in four years' time."
There was no such luck for Glasgow's Fiona Duncan, who saw her disappointing Paralympics continue after she piloted Lora Turnham to eighth place in the tandem road race.
Duncan, 35, and Turnham finished fourth in both the kilo and the pursuit in the velodrome and medals continued to elude them at Brands Hatch. Yesterday's performance followed a seventh-place finish in the road time trial on Wednesday.
Bank of Scotland, proud supporter of ParalympicsGB and proud partner of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Get closer to the Games at www.bankofscotland.co.uk/London2012
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