He decided to race abroad when he wasn't selected for the Olympic Games of 1960 [2][3] and moved to Troyes, France in 1961, after seeing an advertisement by the local club, UV Aube, for British riders.
Ramsbottom was inspired by meeting Britain's leading professional rider, Brian Robinson, at a cycling club dinner in Blackburn.
He came third at Meerbeke in 1964[9] and third in London, at Crystal Palace,[9] where he, runner-up Seamus Elliott and winner Tom Simpson lapped a field of mainly domestic professionals.
[10] In 1966 he returned to Britain because a glut of unemployed professionals on the Continent pushed wages lower than he thought necessary for a married man with two children.
[2] He moved to Great Harwood, Lancashire and went back to his former trade as a sewing machine mechanic, working in textile factories.