Daily Cycling Facts 24.12.11

Happy birthday to American Garmin-Cervélo rider Thomas Peterson. Peterson, who was born on this day in 1986 and was National Junior Road Race Champion in 2004, then went on to win stages in several races. His best results to date have been winning the King of the Mountains in the 2009 Herald Sun Tour and 4th overall in the 2011 Tour of Turkey.

José Aguilar was born on this day in 1980. The Venezuelan rider has achieved numerous stage wins during his eight years as a professional.

On this day in 1854, Thomas Stevens was born in Birkhamstead, Hertfordshire. Aged 29, he set out from his family's adopted home in San Francisco on a penny-farthing fitted with cutting-edge nickel-plated wheels - a ride that, a year and a half later, would earn him the title of the first man to circumnavigate the globe on a bicycle. He died on the 24th of January 1935 and is buried in London's St. Marylebone Cemetery.

Happy birthday to Emma Trott, the Dolmans-Boels cyclist born in Welwyn Gardeb City, Great Britain on this day in 1989. Trott was National Junior Road Race Champion in 2006.

Andreas Matzbacher, who was born on the 7th of December 1982, died on this day in 2007 when he lost control of his car and collided with a signpost in Austria. The rider began his professional career with Saeco in 2004.