The French ultra-cyclist Sofiane Sehili has been in custody in Russia since the beginning of September. The latest news from Russia is worrying: a court has now extended his pre-trial detention until 3 November. He is accused of illegally crossing the border. His detention was unusually harsh from the outset - normally, defendants accused of similar offences can wait for their trial without being detained.
"The Russian lawyer told me that it is very strange that he is in custody, that normally, if he pays money, he has the right to wait for his trial elsewhere. He doesn't have to go to prison. It is a fairly minor offence. Chinese people often cross the border illegally in this way. But now that he is not Chinese, because he is a foreigner coming from much further away, I fear that this will take on diplomatic proportions that are not at all the origin of the journey and the world record," explained Fanny Bensussan, friend of Sofiane Sehili.
The unusually long detention reinforces fears that this is about global political power games. Since the major invasion of Ukraine, Russia has imprisoned several people from Western countries under questionable circumstances and used them as political leverage. One of the most prominent cases was the US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was arrested at Moscow airport in 2022. 0.5 g of hemp oil was found in Griner's hand luggage.
She was then sentenced to nine years in prison and a fine for illegal drug possession and smuggling. She was then released after a few months in exchange for a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the USA. In another exchange, a Wall Street Journal journalist imprisoned in Russia was only released when the Russian contract killer Wadim K. (Tiergarten murder) was transferred to Russia.
Why was Sofiane Sehili imprisoned?
Sofiane Sehili wanted to set a new world record for the transcontinental bike ride from Lisbon to Vladivostok. His planned route was to cover 16,287 kilometres across Europe to East Asia. His goal was to break the Eurasia world record set by Jonas Deichmann in 2017.
On 1 July, he started his Unsupported ride through Europe in Lisbon. His attempt was monitored by the World Ultracycling Association (WUCA) and was to end up in the Guinness Book of Records. Despite a much longer route than planned, he was close to the finish line at the beginning of September.
He had already covered 18,000 kilometres, almost 300 kilometres a day, when he arrived at the border after 63 days. Only 200 kilometres separated Sofiane Sehili from the new record, but at the border with Russia, despite an electronic visa, he was not allowed to enter the country by bike, but only by train.
The problem was probably a strip between two border posts. Sofiane Sehili tried to cheat his way past the first border post and reported at the second. There, however, the 44-year-old was arrested for illegal entry into Russia.
Support for the community
Sofiane Sehili is a well-known name in the ultracycling community and is regarded as a reflective person. He had already shown in advance that he is aware of the difficult situation in many countries: "It would be very inappropriate to complain while people are dying or their homes are being destroyed for another senseless war. If planning this has taught me one thing, it's that all of us living in the Western world are very lucky to be able to do what we want and go where we want." On social media and in the French press, many expressed their solidarity with Sehili and continue to hope for her release soon.
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About the person
Sofiane Sehili is an ultracycling athlete and cycling adventurer from the south-west of France. He has already travelled to over 50 countries by bike and taken part in 25 ultra-cycling races - 11 of which he has won. He has won the Silk Mountain Race three times and has also won the Atlas Mountain Race and the Tour Divide.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
