Philip Grant Anderson OAM, born 12 March, 1958 is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who was the first non-European to wear the Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey) of the Tour de France.
Phil Anderson was born in London but moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was young. He grew up in the suburb of Kew and graduated from Trinity Grammar School in 1975. He first raced with Hawthorn Citizens' Youth Club, where Allan Peiper, another future professional, was also a member.
Anderson won the Tour of New Zealand in 1977 and the Australian Team Time Trial championship in 1978; in that year he also won the Commonwealth Games Road Race in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was 19yrs.
He moved to France in 1979 to join the ACBB, a club at Boulogne-Billancourt in the suburbs of Paris with a reputation amongst professional teams, particularly Peugeot. There he won the Tour de l'Essonne, the Tour de l'Hérault and the amateur version of the unofficial world time-trial championship, the Grand Prix des Nations, in Cannes.
Anderson turned professional in 1980 for Peugeot, one of the oldest French teams. He won two races in his first season; the Prix de Wetteren and a stage in the Étoile des Espoirs and came second in two others. He moved to Lokeren, Belgium, to ride criteriums.
He came fifth in the 1982 Tour de France, in which he held the White Jersey of best young rider and again fifth in 1985, the year he won the Tour de Suisse. That same season he finished second in the Super Prestige Pernod, forerunner of the UCI points championship. His highlights were wearing the Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey) of the Tour de France in 1981 and then again for nine days in 1982.
He was the first rider from outside Europe to lead the race.
His best year was 1985, when he won the Tour of the Mediterranean, Tour of Catalonia, Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of Switzerland as well as finishing second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Ghent-Wevelgem
Phil Anderson continued to ride the Tour de France until 1989 when he came 38th, but by then he had arthritis.
