Ultracycling record attempt: Sofiane Sehili arrested on the border with Russia

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. "I've had this record in mind for four years," he revealed in the run-up to the race. He started his Unsupported ride through Europe in Lisbon on 1 July. He had to reschedule several times beforehand due to political tensions and armed conflicts.

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 reached the Chinese-Russian border after 63 days. "I'm very worried because Sofiane was already pretty exhausted when he was arrested," his girlfriend Fanny Bensussan told the daily newspaper Le Monde. "The detention conditions are not helping him to recover physically."

>> Sofiane Sehili: French ultra-cyclist as a political hostage of Russia? Part 2 of the story ...

Reasons for the arrest of Sofiane Sehili

Illegal border crossing - this is the accusation levelled against the Frenchman by the Russian authorities. In fact, Sofiane Seheli was only 200 kilometres away from breaking the record. But at the border with Russia, despite having an electronic visa, he was not allowed to enter the country by bike, but only by train across the border strip. But that would have cost him time and the world record. So Sofiane Sehili probably found a way to cheat his way past the first border post and reported to the second because he needed a passport stamp.

The 44-year-old was arrested there for illegal entry into Russia. According to reports in the Moscow Times, a local court has ordered him to be remanded in custody for several weeks. "The Russian lawyer told us that this procedure was strange. Chinese people often cross the border illegally at this point. But even in Russia, this is a minor offence that would normally be punished with a fine. He now sees the danger that the case will take on diplomatic proportions," says Fanny Bensussan.

The court has now scheduled the first hearing for 4 October.

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, taking part in 25 ultra-cycling races and winning 11 of them. He has won the Silk Road Mountain Race alone three times, as well as the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco and the legendary Tour Divide in the USA.