Montague Alfred Holbein (11 August 18611 July 1944) was a British champion cyclist and swimmer. He is most known for his second place in the inaugural 1891 Bordeaux-Paris, that was won by his countryman

George Pilkington Mills George Pilkington Mills (8 January 1867 – 8 November 1945) was the dominant English racing cyclist of his generation, and winner of the inaugural Bordeaux–Paris cycle race. He frequently rode from Land's End to John o' Groats, holding th ...

and for several attempts in the early 1900s to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

swimming.

Cycling

In the early days of

competitive cycling Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

Holbein was one of the absolute stars of the then dominant British cycling scene. A good example of the dominance of British cycling in those days was the 1891 Bordeaux-Paris, that saw the Brits take the first four places, Holbein ranking second. His specialty was in long endurances races, which is shown by his victories in 24 hour races on the Great North Road and in the Cuca Cocoa Cup on the

Herne Hill Velodrome The Herne Hill Velodrome is a velodrome in Herne Hill, in south London. It is one of the oldest cycling tracks in the world, having been built in 1891. It hosted the track cycling events in the 1948 Summer Olympics and was briefly the home of Cry ...

. In total Holbein established 32 British cycling records.The Illustrated London News, 29. November 1891 Nowadays more known is his second place in the inaugural Bordeaux-Paris, where a group of 4 British cyclists dominated the race.

Results

1888 * 1st Catford Cycle Club 12 hours * 1st Great North Road 24 hours 1889 * 1st Great North Road 24 hours * 1st North Road 50 miles 1890 * 1st Great North Road 24 hours 1891 * 1st Herne Hill 24 hours record * 2nd Bordeaux - Paris 1892 * London to York tandem tricycle record (with Frank Shorland)

Swimming

Montague Holbein broke several swimming records on the Thames. In 1899 he set a record of 43 miles and in 1908 he covered an incredible uninterrupted 50 miles. Holbein also made several attempts, ultimately all unsuccessful, to swim across the English Channel.

1901 Attempt

In 1901, he tried to swim from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

but was pulled out four miles from

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. After his English Channel attempt, his eyes were so badly damaged from the salt water that he was unable to see for four days.

1902 Attempts

On 1 August 1902, he failed again due to a tidal flow, heavy seas and a strong head wind, again four miles from

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

. According to the accounts at the time, he swam for 4 hours 45 minutes and covered a distance of 18 miles, "the exact distance between the nearest points on the French and English shores". Holbein was covered with oil and wore a mask. The mask was composed of American sticker's plaster with glass let in to enable him to see, and effectually preserve his eyes from injury. He started his 1902 Channel crossing doing breaststroke at 25 strokes per minute, but then switched to backstroke at a 20 stroke-per-minute pace. Due to the turbulence in the Channel, his support crew got seasick and some returned to shore. During his attempt, he ate beef essence in liquid form and sandwiches, but was eventually pulled out when he could not make any headway against the tides. On 27 August 1902, Holbein started his third attempt of the English Channel from France to Dover in 63 degree F water. However, he was taken out of the water within a mile of Dover after an attempt of 22 hours 21 minutes. His crew used two powerful acetylene lamps to follow him through the night as he started at 3:20 pm. He did not repeat any attempts thereafter.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19021011.2.74.53 Paper's Past - Auckland Star 11-10-1902 He once swam 43 miles in the Solent.

References

External links

Montague A. Holbein's profile on Cycling RankingMontague A. Holbein's profile on Cycling Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbein, Montague British male swimmers Ultra-distance cyclists 1861 births 1944 deaths English male cyclists