Robin Gemperle wins Transcontinental Race: nine days of suffering

While there are still lots of cyclists on the course, Swiss Robin Gemperle already took victory at the Transcontinental Race: earlier this week he crossed the finish line as winner of the epic event. Gemperle was the first participant to arrive – after 8 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes – in Istanbul.

Last year Gemperle lost the battle for victory of the Transcontinental Race by just six hours, but now he succeeded in winning the race: with a lead of just over four hours over Christoph Strasser, he thus now pulled off the victory. At the time of writing, 23 cyclists has crossed the finish line – the last of these finishers arrived after 11 days, 17 hours and 19 minutes – but many more bikers are still on the course. In total, participants have about 14 days to reach the finish line.

The Transcontinental Race takes a different course each year, but is always about four thousand kilometers long and a so-called “A-to-B” race. This year it started in Roubaix, France, then rode to the Wall of Geraardsbergen and from there participants could decide their own route. Only condition this year is that they tick off checkpoints in Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo and Turkey before finally reaching the finish line in Istanbul.