CHAMPION is a tag thrown about a lot these days, but it was a word uttered by many yesterday when they spoke about cycling star Frank McCaig.The first winner of The Advertiser Sports Star of the Year in 1965-66, Frank McCaig passed away on Monday night.On the road and track, McCaig racked up an incredible run of success.He was a trailblazer and a competitor who achieved many firsts - the first to be a dual winner of Sports Star, the first Bendigo cyclist to win the Golden Mile Wheelrace and the first to win his hometown classic three times.He also played a key role in starting one of the city’s greatest traditions - the Bendigo International Madison.Frank McCaig’s work with the Bendigo International Madison, and as referee-handicapper for the Bendigo and District Cycling Club, touched the lives of so many.He left a lasting legacy in a sport he devoted so much to. Bendigo International Madison committee chairman Warren Sinnott said the McCaig name had been synonymous with the event since it began in the early 1970s and continued each Labour Day holiday weekend in March.“Frank and his older brother Alan played a significant role in the start of the Madison, and their dedication to its ongoging success of the carnival was amazing,” Sinnott said.In 1972, Frank and Alan McCaig teamed up with Roy Bakes, Graeme Macdonald and other influential people to be co-founders of the track cycling classic.By the early 1980s, Frank McCaig was teams co-ordinator for the Madison.It was a position he held for more than 20 years before his eldest son, Rik, took on the role as the carnival’s chief executive.Frank stayed on to play a crucial role with the carnival organising committee.Alan McCaig’s business, McCaig Air-conditioning, is a long-time sponsor of one of the city’s biggest sporting events.“Frank’s knowledge of cycling was something we always tapped into,” Mr Sinnott said.“He was a great mentor to so many, and just went about his work in his quiet, unassuming way.“Frank just got things done.“The esteem he is held in is amazing - not just in Bendigo, but right around Australia and across the world.”Frank McCaig was a dual Sports Star of the Year, and his youngest son, Brent, also earned Sports Star of the Year honours. Rik won monthly awards and excelled on the road and track.Journalist and cycling promoter John Craven knew Frank McCaig for more than 40 years.“We first met in Tasmania in the late 1960s when Frank was racing on the track.”A long-lasting friendship was forged during the Sun Tour, when Craven, then a sportswriter for the Herald was covering the Sun Tour, and Frank was there supporting his youngest brother, Tony.Many years later, Craven took charge of running the tour and appointed Frank McCaig as technical manager. Mr Craven said Frank’s passing was a great loss to cycling.Whether it was the big events such as the tour or a club race, Frank McCaig was always willing to give his time to help.“The amount of people he helped is beyond counting,” Mr Craven said.“On the tour, he just went about doing things in an uncomplicated way, and concentrating on the task at hand.“I sought his advice so many times, and he was never too busy to help.”As a mark of respect, cyclists competing in the Tour of the Murray observed a minute’s silence before yesterday’s start of the criterium in Swan Hill.“Frank was a man who earned so much respect for what he did, and the way he went about life.“He was the ultimate family man.”In 2005, Frank McCaig was inducted to the Victorian Cycling Hall of Fame.The cycling legend started racing in the amateurs, and victory in the state junior 25-mile road race was the start of many remarkable wins.By the time he was 18, Frank had turned professional and concentrated mainly on track cycling.He won the Golden Mile Wheelrace at Bendigo - then run at Easter - in 1963, 1965 and 1967.After his second Golden Mile victory, Frank retired from racing to marry Raeleen (nee Turner) and build a home.In 12 months he resumed road racing and in his comeback race was fastest in the Melbourne to Bendigo classic. Frank went on to win every major road race in Victoria off scratch. The only classic to elude him was the Melbourne to Warrnambool in which he was runner-up.Frank McCaig won three Victorian road championships, and the Bendigo Cycling Club Tour four times. He claimed eight stage victories in four Sun Tour starts.In all, Frank won a dozen Victorian Country titles - nine on the track and three on the road.Frank’s racing career came to an end at the age of 28 when, on the way home from training, he was struck by a car. He spent 20 weeks in the Alfred Hospital.Surgeons saved his leg from amputation, but Frank was unable to work for three years.On recovery, Frank became the Bendigo Cycling Club handicapper and referee. It was a position he held from 1973 until 1996. Frank was elected to life membership of the club in 1992.Whether it was the Bendigo International Madison, or club racing at Mandurang, Frank McCaig did so much to help his sport prosper.Another well-known Eaglehawk identity, Basil Ashman, was at the then BCV8 studios when Frank McCaig was announced as Sports Star of the Year in 1965-66.On that night, Mr Ashman was approached to be on the judging panel for the awards, and he is the longest-serving member.Mr Ashman also plays a key role in compiling information on contenders for the Sports Star Hall of Fame.“Frank was such a humble man. He achieved so much but was never one to gloat about what he had done.“He was an icon of cycling and touched the lives of so many people.”A thanksgiving service will be held this Friday at the William Farmer chapel in Victoria Street, Eaglehawk, from 2pm.