Round the world in 99 days, cyclist gets to church in time

WHEN Dean Stott, a friend of Prince Harry, embarked on a challenge to cycle the length of South and North America, he set himself 110 days to do it. That was, until he received a wedding invitation in the post.

Instead, Stott this weekend finished his gruelling 13,670 mile trek in Alaska, breaking the world record by 18 days and allowing him to get home to watch Prince Harry get married.

The amateur cyclist travelled from Argentina to Alaska under his own steam in 99 days, 12 hours and 56 minutes. As he celebrated last night, Stott, who is raising money for Heads Together, a mental health campaign, said the wedding invitation had arrived at home midway through his journey, calculating that he needed to make the journey in less than 102 days to make it back in time.

Measuring himself for a morning suit en route, after losing 10kg through his efforts, Stott will now fly directly back to Heathrow and straight to Windsor for the wedding with his wife.

Stott, a former UK special forces soldier who was partnered with Prince Harry for training, was asked what would have happened if he had not made it back in time to attend the royal wedding with his wife Alana. “I’d be divorced,” he joked.