Frenchman smashes own Eiffel
Tower step cycling record
ABC ONLINE 20/4/2002
A Frenchman has smashed his own record for cycling up the 747 steps of Paris's famed
Eiffel tower, after the September 11 attacks crushed his dream of pedaling to the roof of
the World Trade Centre.
Crowds of tourists watched as 30-year-old Hugues Richard pedalled up the landmark's steps
to the second floor of the tower in 19 minutes.
That was almost half the time he needed for the 36-minute record he set on his previous
attempt in 1998.
"I was pretty tired when I got to the top," Mr Richard said.
Mr Richard says he had been planning to cycle up the steps of one of New York's Twin
Towers before hijacked planes felled the skyscrapers on September 11.
However, he still intends to take on a US landmark.
"I was talking with the World Trade Centre about possibly doing the Twin
Towers," he said.
"After September 11, I settled on the Statue of Liberty."
Mr Richard has already cycled up the 1,600 steps to the Sacre Coeur church, at the peak of
the hill in Paris's historic Montmartre district, as well as the 284 steps to the Arc de
Triomphe at the top of the Champs Elysees.
END OF REPORT
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