A bad fall last night caused Maltese athlete Nicky Farrugia to give up his attempt to break the Enduroman Arch to Arc world record by running, swimming and cycling between Marble Arch in London and the Arch de Triomphe in Paris.

His bicycle chain jammed as he cycled at Abbeville, some 65 miles away from Calais and he fell, badly damaging his bike and hurting a knee.

The incident happened at about 7.30 p.m. and the attempt was called off a few hours later when his knee started swelling even as attempts were being made to find a suitable bike replacement.

The end of the attempt followed heartache early yesterday when Nicky had to be pulled out of the English Channel within a mile of completing his swim between Dover and Calais. The decision was taken for safety reasons after he felt sick earlier in the swim.

"It was just one bad luck after another, but my motto is to never give up," Nicky told timesofmalta.com.

Nicky, who had swam the Channel before, was attempting to make it between London and Paris in under 81 hours, five minutes.

He completed his run from Marble Arch to Dover, a distance of 140km, in 21hrs, 28mins and 23sec.

Nicky Farrugia was raising funds for Dar Ta-l Providenza and Inspire (Eden & Razzett Foundation) and appealed to donors to continue to be generous.

The public can support the World Record Attempt via: Donation Account Number : HSBC 068-079821-050