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BORIS BIKE v VENTOUX

ENGLAND: London mayor Boris Johnson has praised three friends who took a “Boris bike” on a gruelling trip up a French mountain before returning it with 22 seconds to spare before the 24-hour rental limit expired.

Matthew Winstone, Ian Laurie and Robert Holden paid the £2 (€2.36) daily hire charge for the bike, which they took from New Kent Rd in Southwark, south London, at 3.58am on Oct 26. They then took it by van through the Eurotunnel and drove to Mont Ventoux, a Tour de France landmark, where Mr Holden, from Teddington, south-west London, pedalled the three-speed 23kg bike to the top.