A year later, he won Folkestone-London, attacking from the gun. For the French team ACBB (Athletic Club Boulogne Billancourt) he won Paris-Barentin, Paris-Mauberge and the Tour de l'Essone, and was third in the amateur Paris–Roubaix and second in the British championship. He won the Archer Grand Prix cycle race in 1976 and 1977. Despite spending only part of the year in France due to examinations, he came second in the season-long Palme d'Or competition. 1977 saw him ride the world championship in Venezuela, the pro-am Étoile des Éspoirs and the Scottish Milk Race. Upon leaving ACBB he was invited to nominate a rider as his successor at the club, becoming the first of a chain of English-speaking riders who graduated to the highest level of the sport via the club, including Irishman Stephen Roche, fellow Britons Robert Millar (now known as Philippa York) and Sean Yates, and Australian Phil Anderson. He then turned professional in 1978 for Fiat under Raphaël Géminiani, and later rode as a domestique in the La Redoute cycling team.