Atlas Mountain Race.

[In Reverse]

Ah that's a real shame about Stu.

The pics look incredible. What a setting.

[ssnowman]

Sofiane is so far ahead it's insane.

[jameso]

him riding fast for a while and then succumbing to exactly the kind of issue that some folk said ex-pros wouldn't be suited to dealing with arguably reinforces the opinions of those neh-sayers, no???

Anyone can get a saddle sore though? Plenty of proven self-supported racers have pulled out due to that having gone further / faster in events before. I think we'll see a number of ex-pros up front in these events in future. At 34-35 you're at the end of a pro-road career yet potentially going into your best years for endurance racing. Decade plus of riding to that level, a year or so of re-training that ability... could make you very capable. The only thing I can think of as a negative for an ex-road pro is that you may have got there by being a sprint/speed rider rather than a natural distance hauler?

Still, Sofiane proving that not stopping much is hard to beat. Would like to ask him what goes through his mind 50hrs+ into something like this. Would have to think he loves the state of mind and the test as much as riding itself.

[In Reverse]

I think you're absolutely right James.

Look at the EF videos from the last 12 months and Lachlan Morton could probably jump right in. Appetite and that bit of weirdness that makes him want to do it alongside his racing commitments. There's no question that he'll be involved in the events in the wider bikepacking scene in a few years time. And that's just one rider from one team.

The industry drift from road > gravel > bike packing, niche as it currently may be, will bring bigger and bigger sponsorships with it. That may mean there are younger riders who don't quite make pro road teams, but have a fitness profile for this sort of thing who can make something of a living from it. It might also mean established team riders stepping down from their tour commitments at a slightly younger age.

Give the TDR/HT550 another ten years and they could very likely look a lot different in terms of starting line-up.

[gairym]

him riding fast for a while and then succumbing to exactly the kind of issue that some folk said ex-pros wouldn't be suited to dealing with arguably reinforces the opinions of those neh-sayers, no???

Anyone can get a saddle sore though? Plenty of proven self-supported racers have pulled out due to that having gone further / faster in events before.

Totally, I wasn't saying I thought that but more that it possibly fitted in with what some folk were saying about the potential failings of ex-roadies perceived 'softness' once so the luxuries were unavailable.

I agree that it's very likely a trend that'll continue (more ex-pros on the scene) - why wouldn't it?

[Lazarus]

no one doubts the ex pros will be quick but i seriously doubt they ever spend 16 hours in the saddle day after day without much sleep[never mind without dieticians ,physios doctors and massage personel - the ability to cope with this is the key to winning [ and finishing].
Someone will make the step though.- going to need to be a robot who does not sleep though to beat Sofiani - has he even actually stopped yet for any time never meant slept?

[In Reverse]

no one doubts the ex pros will be quick but i seriously doubt they ever spend 16 hours in the saddle day after day without much sleep[never mind without dieticians ,physios doctors and massage personel - the ability to cope with this is the key to winning [ and finishing].

This was the point I was making about Lachlan Morton and the EF videos - in his first "race" of this type (GBDURO) he did the first 40 hours or so as a block ride and pretty much destroyed the rest of the field straight away. And although he was clearly finding it tough to begin with I suspect he'd have no worries about it the second time out. And he's just one rider.

That top 0.00001% of cyclists who become top level pros already have the mental ability to suppress suffering using competitive hunger in a way that the rest of us don't. It's not a huge leap to think a significant number of them will also be able to suppress the tiredness/soreness/bewilderment that comes with riding alone through the night.

[jameso]

Gotcha Gairy, I know what you mean.

I think that ability to ride it out multi day, low sleep will be in Tour pros as often / same % as it will be in the general tourer or bikepacker bunch. Maybe more so. If you want the experience or you're motivated you'll push it as far as you can. Taking it as far as Mike Hall, or Sophiane is doing now, seems fairly rare though.

[FLV]

55km in the lead now. James H has raced Sofiane before so knows not to panic if the 2/3 day lead looks big...

The chase is on

[Lazarus]

It's not a huge leap to think a significant number of them will also be able to suppress the tiredness/soreness/bewilderment that comes with riding alone through the night.

I think it is because roughing it for hours and days over rough terrain with no support ormuch sleep is not like 6-8 hours effort with full nutrition and all the team back up. They are hardy in entirely different ways. Does anyone think a track star could do it ? they have all the attributes you mention.

Do say middle distance ones end up as ulta marathon gods ?I have no idea-its a genuine question - but how often does this transition actually happen in sports?

Dont get me wrong i am sure some will do it and be competitive, as they are going to have speed on their side, but the very front end with the elites ? I doubt it personally as it is such a big change.

[In Reverse]

Who knows John. I think you're probably right about track cyclists - it's physically very different, and for the top end tour riders they might have satisfied their competitive hunger. That still leaves a huge number of pro cyclists who fit the bill though.

This is the Lachlan Morton video I mentioned. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.

[Lazarus]

cheers and nope not seen it - will catch it tomorrow.

would love to see Froome do it -HE wouldcertainly know where he is staring at the GPS on his stem and with his pedalling technique, and notorious bike handling skils what could possibly go wrong
I just think they are very different even though they are both immense achievements on bicycles.
Back to this I can never decide what is greater their average speeds or their ability to never sleep despite such levels of excertion. Trully phenomenal performance at the front end as always.
Looks like Sofani may have finally stopped

[Escape Goat]

https://www.instagram.com/stories/sofianeshl/




As if he has time to play on Instagram whilst winning the AMR!!

[Boab]

Has he actually slept for longer than 5 mins yet...?

[Escape Goat]

He didnt say how long too busy singing!!

[lune ranger]

Shame Jens Voigt never made the switch...

[gairym]

We've got a winner!

Superhuman effort!

3 days, 21 hours and 14 minutes (going off the trackleaders intel) to cover 1148 mountainous, off-road kms with what looks like (but surely can't be) only 3.5 hours of time not moving

I'm sure I must have calculated that wrong, no?

Which is loosely twice as far covered in the same time as the fastest ever performance by yours truly (550km in 3 days 15 hours) which sadly actually makes me more proud of myself for that than before

[Escape Goat]

Holy. Moly.


That was some effort!!

[summittoppler]

That's just insane! He must have been wizzing his t!ts off!!!
It does look absolutely stunning out there, I'd like to pedal there but not on my tod...

[whitestone]

Chuffin' hell

Being able to keep things together mentally for that length of time is impressive. Just one night of no sleep and riding through the night had me hallucinating and seeing people packing suitcases or fishing that turned out to be random patterns of moss on boulders That was with company (Jenny Graham, so we were rather chatty!) not alone.

EF Education First have a policy (for want of a better word) where there riders can pursue "alternative" events if they aren't chosen for the main series of races. Lachlan Morton has done the Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race and the Leadville 100 MTB race as well as GBDuro. A couple of other EF riders also did the Dirty Kanza.

I watched a GCN video yesterday which happened to be about Tuillo Campagnolo and his introduction of QR skewers and gears but compared the 1927 Giro winner with Chris Froome's 2018 win. Average stage length in 1927 took 9.6hrs, in 2018 the average stage took 4hrs.

There's 542 riders on the World Tour teams, the top level of road cycling, maybe the same again just below that level. No doubt there'll be some who enter events like the Transcontinental or RAAM and a few who'll look at events like the TDR, SRMR or AMR.

[voodoo_simon]

That’s seriously impressive stufff

I just can’t comprehend that sort of pace with no sleep. I can’t even do 24 hour stints without needing to sleep, so to go three nights without, we’ll

Edit - 3 days 21 hours 50 minutes according to Sofiane’s Instagram page

[Alpinum]

Indeed impressive.

Makes me think about drugs.

I'll come back later on this.

[Mart]

From his Instagram photos he looks a bit wasted with a thousand mile stare
Hats off to the fella - that was seriously impressive

[voodoo_simon]

James H has finished in 4 days and 9 minutes

JP came in third with 4 days, 4 hours and 20 minutes

All very much impressive times!

I see Nigel is about 640km or so and Shona + Rich are 675km into the race

[BobCatMax]

Indeed impressive.

Makes me think about drugs.

I'll come back later on this.

James H mentioned in Nelson's live insta feed of him finishing that he'd had too much caffeine after getting told off by his wife for swearing too much..

I assume you're talking about something a little harder..?