AusCycling has paid tribute to champion para cyclist Stuart Jones, who has retired from the sport after an eight-year career as part of the ARA Australian Cycling Team.
Jones, 57, raced at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where he finished fifth in the T1-2 time trial and eighth in the road race.
The T2 classified para cyclist won two UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships medals during his career, the first being a time trial silver medal at Emmen 2019 in the Netherlands. His second was a bronze medal in the same event at Baie-Comeau 2022 in Canada.
Jones, who now resides in Sydney and was most recently a member of Newcastle Hunter Cycling Club, found para cycling after a motor vehicle accident while cycling to work resulted in a fractured skill, two fractured vertebrae in his spine and torn tendons in his hand.
Despite being told he would never walk again, a determined Jones not only learnt to walk, but also cycle again using a recumbent tricycle.
During rehabilitation, Jones set himself the goal of becoming a world-class para cyclist, a goal he achieved in short time when he made his Australian Cycling Team debut at the 2018 UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in Maniago, Italy after winning the first of many national titles at the 2017 Para Cycling Road National Championships.
When looking back on his para cycling journey, Jones said he was immensely proud.
Stu Jones racing at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (Picture: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)
"I will always look back on my time as a member of the Australian Cycling Team as a great honour and I can honestly say that I loved every minute of the journey," he said.
The five-time UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup medallist exemplified the spirit of para cycling at the Tokyo Paralympics when during the T1-2 road races he put his race on hold to encourage South African Toni Mould in the women’s event, held concurrently with the men's event.
In a demonstration of sportsmanship, Jones rode alongside Mould, encouraging her all the way until she crossed the finish line.
“On my last lap as I hit the bottom of the climb I came across Toni Mould and by that stage I knew wasn’t going to podium and it wasn’t going to matter whether I finished sixth, seventh or eighth – but here’s Toni, a true champion going up the climb and I thought well, if I can help her up the hill then my day here has been worthwhile," Jones said post-race.
That display of sportsmanship saw him awarded the Paralympics Australia Uncle Kevin Coombs Medal and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Spirit of Sport Award.
Jones' last race in the green and gold was at the 2025 UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup in Ostend and Bruges, Belgium.
AusCycling Head Coach of Para Cycling, Sheila Galloway, congratulated Jones on leaving a lasting contribution to the sport, his teammates, the T1-2 para cycling community and para cycling fraternity at large.
“Stuart’s contribution to para cycling extends far beyond results. His authenticity, courage, determination and generosity have enriched our team and inspired the para sport community," Galloway said.
"As a valued and respected member of our Australian para cycling family, we congratulate Stuart on an outstanding career and thank him for the legacy he leaves as he moves into his next chapter.”
Stu Jones racing the T1-2 time trial at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. (Picture: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Jones joins the newly established AusCycling Alumni Club, headed by AusCycling Athlete Liaison, Gracie Elvin.
Feature picture: Jean-Baptiste Benavent