Friday Photo - Cyclist Versus Horse

Freddy Maertens versus the horse Fakir du Vivier (photo courtesy of Velo Aficionado)

This photo goes back to 1977. Pro cyclist Freddy Maertens was having a great year in 1977, and was looking forward to racing in the Tour de France. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist during the Giro d'Italia (You can see the cast on his right arm in the photo). So instead, he raced against a harness racehorse named Fakir du Vivier. In the one kilometer race, Maartens lost by 0.3 seconds. If you are surprised that he lost, you shouldn't be. As Freddy later explained, "I was paid 120,000 francs to start, and 50,000 francs by bookmakers to lose."