Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/875714
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 Sport CYCLING British cyclist pedals around world in 78 days, smashing record A British endurance cyclist has smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the planet on a bicycle, riding 18,000 miles (29,000km) in under 80 days. Mark Beaumont cycled for 18 hours a day and burned more than 9,000 calories every 24 hours as he crossed Poland, Russia, Mongolia, China, Aus- tralia and the United States. "It's literally about riding to the next horizon," the Scotsman said on Mon- day after completing his marathon ride under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. "I've barely walked for two-and-a-half months." A crash in Russia on the ninth day in which he broke a tooth and injured his elbow nearly ended a ride that he said had taken him to a "mental depth" he had never before experienced. "It's just the sleep deprivation. It's af- ter weeks and weeks and weeks, it's just the long, long hours you spend in your head, you know, really battling. And you just need to decide you're never go- ing to stop," he said. He completed the ride in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes. The record was previously held by New Zealander An- drew Nicholson, who in 2015 managed the feat in 123 days. A Guinness World Record adjudica- tor handed the cyclist two world record certificates - one for the round-the- world record, the other for the furthest distance cycled in a single month. Mark Beaumont smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world