Nowadays the pre-eminent bicycle race in the world, the Tour de France was established in 1903 by French journalist Henri Desgrange, by way of boosting circulation of his sports newspaper, ‘L’Auto’, which sponsored the Tour. The inugural Tour de France consisted of significantly fewer, but corresponsingly stages longer, stages than the modern equivalent. In fact, the Paris-Lyon-Marseille-Toulouse-Bordeaux-Nantes-Paris route covered 2,428 kilometres, or 1,509 miles, and required competitors to cycle through the night and into the following afternoon.
In any event, the race was dominated by Italian-born professional cyclist Maurice-François Garin, nicknamed ‘Le Petit Ramoneur’ or, in English, ‘The Little Chimney Sweep’. Garin won the first stage, between Paris and Lyon, albeit by just one minute after 17 hours on the road, and the fifth stage, between Bordeaux and Nantes, such that, at the start of the sixth and final stage, he was over two-and-a-half hours ahead of his nearest rival, Lucien Pothier.
Barring accidents, Garin would win the Tour de France in any case but, remarkably, he was at, or close to, the head of affairs for the whole of the 471-kilometre, or 293-mile, route back to Paris and recorded his third stage win. His eventual winning margin, of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 31 seconds, remains the widest in the history of the Tour.
In a subsequent interview with Desgrange, Garin produced a note, which opened, ‘The 2,500 kilometres that I’ve just ridden seem a long line, grey and monotonous, where nothing stood out from anything else. But I suffered on the road; I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was sleepy, I suffered, I cried between Lyon and Marseille…’ He did, however, receive a total of 6,125 francs, including the overall first prize of 3,000 francs, for his trouble.
Until August 3, 2020, Sean Murphy held the record for the fastest win at the World Snooker Championship. In 2019, Murphy needed just 149 minutes, or two hours and 29 minutes, to whitewash Chinese qualifier Luo Honghao 10-0 in his first-round match; Luo set another, less desirable record, for the fewest points scored in a match since the Championship moved to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield in 1977, just 89.
However, a year later, then-five-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan put in a similarly dominant performance against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand at the equivalent stage of the Championship. ‘The Rocket’ required just 82 minutes, or one hour and 22 minutes, to establish an 8-1 overnight lead at the end of the first session – in which he recorded an average shot time of 13.41 seconds, and another 26 minutes to win the first two frames of the second, thereby dispatching his opponent 10-1. His overall winning time, of 108 minutes, or one hour and 48 minutes, was fully 41 minutes faster than the previous record. Nevertheless, O’Sullivan said afterwards, ‘I’m not really bothered by records…they’re overrated in many ways.’
As a matter of interest, O’Sullivan also holds the record for the fastest 147 break, clocked at five minutes and eight seconds, in the fourteenth frame of his first-round match against Mick Price in the World Snooker Championship in 1997. He also came agonising close to breaking the record for the fastest televised century break – three minutes and 31 seconds, set by Tony Drago at the UK Championship in 1996 – at the Scottish Open in 2022. In the second frame of his first-round match against the susbequently disgraced Bai Langning, compiled a century break in what appeared to be a new record time but, on review, the time was corrected to three minutes and 34 seconds, just three seconds shy of the record.
Nowadays, James ‘Jimmy’ Frost is probably best known as the father of Bryony Frost, the most successful female National Hunt jockey of all time. However, it should not be forgotten that, in his heyday, Frost Snr. was a highly accomplished National Hunt jockey in his own right. All told, he rode 510 winners under Rules, starting with Mopsey at Taunton in February, 1974 and ending with Bohill Lad at Exeter in March, 2002.
As far as the Grand National is concerned, Frost was a relative latecomer, not making his debut in the world famous steeplechase until April 8, 1989, by which time he was already 30 years old. On heavy going, he lined up on 28/1 chance Little Polveir, owned by Edward Harvey and trained by Gerard ‘Toby’ Balding, to whom Frost was stable jockey. Little Polveir took the lead heading out onto the final circuit and, thereafter, was never headed. At the Elbow, five horses were still in serious contention, but Little Polveir asserted in the closing stages, running on well to beat West Tip and The Thinker by 7 lengths and half a length and passing the post with just a riderless horse for company.
Little Polveir had completed the Grand National Course once before, when ninth, as nine-year-old, behind West Tip in 1986. However, he unseated rider at The Chair in 1987 and at the fence after Valentine’s Brook in 1988, when in the lead. He was sold, as a 12-year-old, by majority shareholder Mike Shone and his three partners just six weeks before the 1989 Grand National. Despite his misfortune, Shone remained philosophical, saying, ‘…I was very thrilled he won because, of course, we’d had him from four, when he was unbroken, until 12.’
In the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which was established in its current guise, more or less, in 1924, just four horses have won the race three or more times. Of course, those horses were Golden Miller (1932-1936), Cottage Rake (1948-1950), Arkle (1964-1966) and Best Mate (2002-2004), but one steeplechaser who came closer than most to emulating that illustrious quartet was The Fellow, owned by the late Marquesa de Moratalla and trained by Francois Doumen in Chantilly, France.
The Fellow made his British debut as a five-year-old, finishing third, beaten 17 lengths, behind Desert Orchid in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, 1990. The following March, he made his Cheltenham Gold Cup debut and belied odds of 28/1 by beating all bar Garrison Savannah, who just held on to win by a short head, with 15 lengths back to the third horse, Desert Orchid.
Later that year, he gained some consolation when winning the King George VI Chase, by 1½ lengths from Docklands Express and, as a result, was well-fancied for his second attempt in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Sent off at 7/2 second favourite, The Fellow led between the last two fences and, although headed by his old rival Docklands Express at the final fence, led again on the run-in, only to miss out by a short head, for the second year running, to 25/1 outsider Cool Ground in a driving finish.
Later in 1992, he won the King GeorgeVI Chase for the second year running. His next race was the 1993 Cheltenham Gold Cup, in which he was sent off 5/4 favourite to make amends for two near misses. However, on unseasonably fast ground, he was outpaced at the top of the hill and, although he stayed on well in the closing stages, he could only finish fourth, beaten 9½ lengths, behind Jodami. The Fellow was also beaten favourite in the 1993 King George VI Chase but, the following March, finally redeemed himself, and his much-maligned regular jockey, the late Adam Kondrat, by winning the 1994 Cheltenham Gold Cup at the expense of defending champion Jodami.
The Premier League match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St. James’s Park on Saturday, April 2, 2005 will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed it, mainly because of two farcical incidents. The hosts fell behind after just fve minutes when Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel took advantage of a weak defensive header by Jermaine Jenas to score with a low shot from inside the penalty area.
The scoreline remained 0-1 at half-time but, well inside the final quarter, Darius Vassel dispossessed Nicky Butt inside the United half and rounded out-of-position goalkeeper Shay Given, only for his goal-bound shot to be blocked by the left hand of the last defender, Steven Taylor. Comically, Taylor threw himself to the ground, clutching his side, in an effort to hoodwink referee Barry Knight, but was immediately sent off for deliberate handball. Gareth Barry put Villa 2-0 ahead from the penalty spot and, seven minutes later, made it 3-0 after United defender Stephen Carr bodychecked Vassell on the edge of the penalty area.
To add insult to injury, with 10 minutes or so of normal time remaining, Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer confronted teammate Kieron Dyer about his failure to pass the ball and Dyer reportedly responded by saying, ‘…because you’re sh*t, basically’. Astonishingly, as play continued around them, Bowyer pushed his head in to Dyer’s face, and the pair traded blows until players from both sides intervened to break up the scuffle. Less surprisingly, both players were dismissed for violent conduct, such they were banned for three matches, including the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United two weeks later, which Newcastle lost 4-1.