Thomas Gascoyne

Tom Gascoyne
Thomas Gascoyne between 1897 and 1898.
Personal information
Full nameThomas Jepson Gascoyne
NicknameT. Jeb Gascoyne
Millspseudonym he adopted in Australia
Born(1876-08-18)18 August 1876
Whittington, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Died4 October 1917(1917-10-04) (aged 41)
Broodseinde, Passchendaele salient, Belgium
Team information
DisciplineTrack, solo and tandem
RoleRider, Pursuit
Amateur team
1893-Chesterfield Cycling Club
Professional team
189x-1909+-
Major wins
World record for 25 miles
World record for unpaced flying start quarter-mile
English record for two miles on a tandem
Unpaced mile in 2 minutes 5 seconds

Thomas Jepson Gascoyne[1] (or Thomas Jefferson Gascoyne,[2][3] T. Jeb Gascoyne[4] or Mills)[5] (17 August 1876 – 4 October 1917) was an English professional cycling champion and world record holder who competed internationally on both bicycles and tandems.[1][2][3][6][5]

He held world records for both 25 miles and the flying start quarter-mile. He held the English record for two miles on a tandem, and recorded an unpaced mile in 2 minutes 5 seconds.[2][3][4]

According to the Otago Witness of 1907:

... it is questionable whether any rider, Fenn or MacFarland included, ever came up to the wonderful powers shown by Gascoyne.[5]

... He is a living exception of the proved rule in cycle racing that he who paces must be left at the finish.[5]

... From 1896 to 1901 he raced in various parts of the world, and his marvellous unpaced efforts never failed to send the crowds wild with excitement.[5]

In the early 1900s he emigrated to Australia and did manual work before returning to cycle racing. He eventually settled in Preston, Victoria. He served in the Australian Army and died at the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I.[1][7][8]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference AWMem was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c New York Times, 8 July 1901, Profile sketch of Thomas Jefferson Gascoyne
  3. ^ a b c New-York Tribune. Library of Congress - (New York N.Y.) 1866–1924, 22 July 1901, Cycle Racing report
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Chester was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e Library of the New Zealand, Papers Past > Otago Witness, 27 Poutūterangi 1907, Page 55, A Strange Story by One Who Knows
  6. ^ Red 1st - Thomas Jepson Gascoigne
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Syd 6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Argus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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