In the name of adventure: These are the 12 greatest bike adventurers of all time
Laurin Lehner
· 27.05.2025
What makes a bike adventure? This is what Chat GPD says
An adventure on a mountain bike thrives on the combination of nature, challenge and freedom. Remote trails, challenging terrain and constantly changing conditions demand technique, stamina and courage. Whether steep climbs, narrow single trails or risky descents - every obstacle is part of the experience. The intense experience of nature, the adrenaline rush and the need for improvisation make every tour unique. Whether alone or in a group: an MTB adventure means pushing your own limits and experiencing moments full of freedom and flow.
That's what professional adventurer Stefan Glowacz says! >> Click here for the article
The 12 greatest bike adventurers
From 12th place to 1st place.
12th place | René Wildhaber
The likeable Swiss rider became famous as a racer. His six victories in the Megavalanche glacier enduro race earned him the nickname "Mr Megavalanche". But apart from racing, his true passion is adventure. The son of a mountain farmer has travelled to the most remote places on the planet, including Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Bolivia, Chile (photo) and the west of the USA in search of trails. We know René - and we know: Hardly any biker is as authentic as he is.
11th place | Lachlan Morton
Where does racing end, when does adventure begin? With just 12 days, 12 hours and 21 minutes of riding time, the Australian set the record in the legendary Tour Devide (2023). The self-supported race starts in Banff (Canada) and ends at the Mexican border (4300 km, 58,500 metres in altitude). Morton's record is not officially recognised because he was accompanied by a film crew during the race.
10th place | The Sleeveless Gang ...
... also known as the "Deppengang" - because the adventures of this group were mostly characterised by chaotic preparation and interpersonal turbulence. Andreas Prielmaier, Tom Mayer, Hannes Weber, Stefan Kappl, Dimitri Lehner and photographer Franz Faltermaier successfully completed the first ascent of the "Arctic Circle Trail" in Greenland (2002). They explored Madeira and Iceland (photo) long before elaborate film productions discovered the islands for biking, travelled the Kungsleden Trail in Lapland or searched for trails in Abruzzo and Romania - without finding them. The unvarnished, often self-deprecating stories appeared in BIKE and FREERIDE between 2000 and 2012.
9th place | Andreas Tonelli
The South Tyrolean bike guide seeks out challenges both at home and abroad. Tonelli was drawn to volcanoes in Chile, from which he descended over 3000 metres on his bike on lava sand. He also climbed Mount Elgon in Uganda (4321 m) and Jbel Toubkal (4167 m) in Morocco. In 2024, Tonelli conquered the Ortler Ronda Tour in just one day (5900 vertical metres, 19 hours and 14 minutes). For his last feat, however, Tonelli was drawn back into the distance: the documentary film about the first ascent of the Cerro Mercedario (6770 m) in Argentina only celebrated its premiere in May of this year.
8th place | Darren Berrecloth
The Canadian is one of the most colourful personalities in freeriding. But Darren can do more than just tricks. He wasn't nicknamed "The Claw" for nothing. He feels right at home in the wilderness, hunts his own food when in doubt and travels halfway around the world to track down new trails and spectacular lines. The Claw has already travelled to the Gobi Desert or on a 260-kilometre rafting expedition along the Yukon.
7th place | Hans Rey
Hans "No Way" Rey was the first mountain biker to combine action-packed mountain biking with adventure. Born in Breisgau, Switzerland, he was already looking for challenges in faraway countries at the end of the 1990s. He was particularly fascinated by encounters with foreign cultures - for example in remote regions of Borneo, the Himalayas, South America and Africa. In 2017, Rey climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (photo), together with adventure seeker Gerhard Czerner (left) and video star Danny MacAskill (right).
6th place | Harald Philipp
Born in Siegerland, he is Germany's greatest bike adventurer. He discovered his passion for steep, technical trails at the Vertridern in Innsbruck and became a co-founder of the bike mountaineering scene. Since then, he has been seeking his fortune on the narrowest trails at dizzying heights - where even climbers hang on to the safety rope. Harald's expeditions have taken him to Iceland, North Korea and the Himalayas - where his father once had a fatal accident. In his lectures, Harald brings these experiences to the stage in an impressive way. He now seeks out the challenge of tricky uphills on his e-bike.
5th place | Cèdric Tassan
The Frenchman sought trail happiness in countries such as Afghanistan (photo), where he travelled through remote villages, played volleyball with Taliban, but was also threatened by Islamists. He visited the Mangghystau region in Kazakhstan, Ladakh and crossed the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan.
4th place | Tilmann Waldthaler
Tilmann Waldthaler has travelled over 600,000 kilometres in 143 countries since 1977. Born in Munich in 1942 and raised in South Tyrol, he began his career as a confectioner - just like 'Sir Vival' Rüdiger Nehberg (1935-2020). Waldthaler was drawn out into the world. He was not a classic trail seeker, but specialised in extreme long distances. He rode his mountain bike some 6000 kilometres along the Nile (1987-1988), across Australia (1994), from Alaska to Patagonia (2001) and from Germany to Turkey (2004-2005). Waldthaler is now 83 years old and has lived in Australia for many years.
3rd place | Alban Aubert
The Franco-Swiss has become known in the scene for his project: 50 bike parks in 50 days (in one go). That was in 2011, after which Alban travelled further afield. He specialised in volcano climbs and descents in South America. He climbed mountains in Argentina and Ecuador, mostly over 5000 metres high. In Papua New Guinea, he looked for trails and couldn't find them. Alban knows that this is also part of the adventure. Instead, he met remote tribes who had never seen a white man before. Alban is all about adventure, not followers on social media - a true bike adventurer. His Insta profile: private instead of public.
2nd place | Dan Milner
Brit Dan Milner has undertaken over 80 bike trips. To finance his travels, the adventure photographer puts together a team and sells his stories to magazines. Dan is drawn to places where others don't want to go: to crisis areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan or the Myohyangsan Mountains in North Korea.
Despite extensive research, he doesn't always find great trail luck: "There's nothing worse than bumping around on forest roads," he says. In India, Milner undertook a twelve-day tour to the Pindari Glacier, while in Kyrgyzstan his route took him to the Lenin Glacier. The combination of foreign cultures, intense encounters and the search for trails is what appeals to him the most. The most dangerous? "Not Iraq or Afghanistan," says Dan, "but travelling by bus in the Himalayas."
1st place | Kilian Bron
The Frenchman belongs to the generation of modern bike adventurers. He seeks uncertainty not so much in the journey itself, but in the feasibility of the lines that Kilian sets himself as a goal. Always with him: his film team. The four-time Mountain of Hell winner has a unique feel for epic landscapes - but it's not just these that make his images and videos so powerful. Kilian's riding style is smooth, fast and somewhere between controlled and brutal. Whether on via ferratas in the Dolomites, in Argentina, Cappadocia or on the Aeolian Islands - Kilian is always in search of that one magical line.
Do you have a different opinion?
We created the ranking with the help of scene insiders. Have we forgotten anyone? Or do you disagree with the ranking? Write to us: leseraktion@bike-magazin.de
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Laurin Lehner
Editor
