Russell Crowe challenges gossip columnist to a duel! No, it’s not a gun duel like the old days, but on a bike. Russell didn’t like her comments or her story on his ‘fatty food and cigarette diet’, so he wanted to prove her wrong.

More pictures of Russell after the bike…

Russell had his agent call her up and give her the chance to see for herself how in shape he was. According to the Huffington Post:

In a story published Friday, the paper said Crowe’s spokesman called up gossip columnist Annette Sharp the next day and said, “Get on your bike. Russell wants you to go riding with him. Are you ready to die?”

Sharp accepted the challenge and the pair met a dawn for a 12-mile (20-kilometer) ride through the city. Video of the race shows Sharp struggling to keep up while Crowe zooms along unfazed. At one point, Sharp fell off her bike.

I guess Russell did prove his point. And it was good sport of Sharp to accept his challenge instead of just hide away behind a keyboard.

Photos: Bauer Griffin