William Plugger Martin, Irish Athlete

William Martin, champion six-day bicycle rider of the world. William Plugger Walker Martin (August 4 1860 - 1942) was an Irish-born cyclist. He took up cycling in 1885, racing as an amateur in Nebraska before turning professional in 1890. In 1891, he won the first New York Six-Day race dubbed the E??long-distance championship of the world.E?n In 1895 he traveled across the Atlantic to race, winning 40 races throughout Europe that year. The following year, Martin was attracted by the big prize money on offer Down Under and made the long journey to Australia to race. He raced in every colony over the next six years, during which time he was said to have won 249 races. At the age of 73, he took to the track again at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where in 1933, he finished in third place in the Old TimerE??s Austral Wheel Race. He died in 1942 at the age of 82. According to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald on April 2, 1942, Martin was the person behind such ideas as toe clips and pursuit racing

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12695870

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47666584

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3073px x 4500px (3.2MB)

Credit

LOC/Science Source/Mary Evans