Sports History On This Day: May 11

May 11, 1893 – Early bicycle enthusiast, Henri Desgrange, established the very first bicycle world record, traveling at a top speed of 21.95 miles per hour or 35.325 km/hr at the Buffalo Velodrome in Paris, France.

This was sort of a starting point for Desgrange to take cycling to a whole new level. The Frenchman watched his first bicycle race in 1891 and caught the bug.

He ended up setting twelve world records in track cycling, was an early journalist/writer on the sport, and was the original founder of the Tour de France in 1903.

To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.

Henri Desgrange on a bicycle from 1893
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Henri Desgrange in 1893, at the Buffalo Velodrome in Paris. Contributed by Le Miroir des sports. Special thanks to the resources of Newspapers.com, Wikipedia, and OnThisDay.com for the information obtained.

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