Francis Cecil HIGGINS

A buillder’s clerk by profession, Francis Higgins was the Southern Roads 24-hour champion, and also winner of the Polytechnic club’s 30-mile handicap in 1906. He stayed loyal to the Poly throughout his senior racing career, and was their 100-mile champion in 1908 and 1909. He was captain of the club in 1911, when he was also the holder of the Land’s End to London record, which stood until 1920. Higgins was originally a reserve for the 1912 Olympic road race, but was called into the England squad that won the team road race silver medal. Shortly after the Stockholm Games, Higgins finished third in the North Road 24-hour race, covering a distance of 384.75 miles (619 km)