Competitor seen during the 14th stage Khabarovsk-Vladivostok at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia on August 9, 2017
© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool
Cycling

This cycling event redefines 'extreme' bike racing

As the 2017 edition of Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme, the longest bike race in the world, comes to an end, we round-up the action from this test of endurance.
By Rajiv Desai
3 min readPublished on

5 min

Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme 2017 Final Stage

The longest bicycle race on the planet has come to an end.

The third edition of Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme, the world's longest ultra stage road bicycle race, finished last week as the gruelling event came to an end in Vladivostok, Russia.
Ten athletes, including two female competitors for the first time, set off from Moscow on July 18 to take part in the race which consisted of racing 14 stages over 24 days before coming to a close in Vladivostok on August 10. At 9,211km in total length, the race is three times longer than Tour de France and twice as long as fellow endurance cycling event Race Across America. This edition featured 79,000m of climbing.
Participants pose for a portrait prior to the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on July 18, 2017.

Our 10 intrepid racers in Moscow

© Pavel Sukhorukov/Red Bull Content Pool

Shangrila Rendon from the Philippines races during the the 1st stage Moscow - Nizhniy-Novgorod at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on July 18, 2017

Shangrila Rendon was one of two women competing

© Pavel Sukhorukov/Red Bull Content Pool

Taking the start in Moscow were Alexey Shchebelin (Russia), Peter Sandholt (Denmark), Pierre Bischoff (Germany), Yegor Kovalchuk (Russia), Michael Knudsen (Denmark), Aske Søby (Denmark), Adrian O'Sullivan (Ireland), Marcelo Soares (Brazil), Thursday Gervais Dubina (USA) and Shangrila Rendon (Philippines).
Only three of the 10 riders that started in Moscow covered the entire distance of 9,211km and crossed the finish line in Vladivostok. Russia's Alexey Shchebelin was declared the general classification winner for covering all the 14 stages in the shortest time. Pierre Bischoff (Germany) and Florentino Marcelo Soares (Brazil) finished second and third respectively.
Pierre Bischoff, Alexey Shchebelin and Marcelo Florentino Soares at the end of the 14th stage Habarovsk - Vladivostok at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on August 10, 2017

Shchebelin (c) celebrates with Bischoff and Soares

© Volodya Voronin/Red Bull Content Pool

The relief of finishing such a long race for Shchebelin, Soares and Bischoff quickly turned to feelings of pride and accomplishment.  Last year's edition of Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme saw none of the riders in the 'Solo' category actually manage to cover the total racing distance, and in 2015 only two riders finished the race in its entirety.
Final placings

Place

Name

Time

1

Alexey Shchebelin

312h 16m 58s

2.

Pierre Bischoff

315h 31m 33s

3.

Marcelo Soares

326h 4m 2s

Pierre Bischoff from Germany, Marcelo Florentino Soares from Brasil and Aske Soeby from Denmark race during the fourth stage at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia on July 22, 2017

Extreme weather as well as extreme km per day

© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool

Peter Sandholt, Marcelo Florentino Soares and Pierre Bischoff race on gravel during the 11th stage Ulan-Ude-Chita at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia on August 2, 2017.

Not all road surfaces were smooth

© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool

Pierre Bischoff from Germany, Alexei Shchebelin from Russia and Peter Sandholt from Denmark during the 2nd stage at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on July 19, 2017

Sharing the road was a challenge at times

© Den April/Red Bull Content Pool

Racers continue into the night at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme 2017.

Even at night time they continued to race

© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool

These three's stamina, endurance and powers of recovery were tested as they crossed five climatic zones, seven time zones and covered distances in stages from 310km to 1,368km. The largest of the stages – the 1,386km Chita-Svobodny stage – was won by Schebelin in a time of 52 hours, 29 minutes and 38 seconds.
A cook prepares food for the riders at Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme 2017

A hearty meal is most welcome after a day's racing

© Volodya Voronin/Red Bull Content Pool

Mechanics at work during Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme 2017.

Mechanics tended to all bike maintenance

© Pavel Sukhorukov/Red Bull Content Pool

Pierre Bischoff from Germany recovering after the 7th stage Omsk - Novosibirsk at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on July 25, 2017

Medics and masseurs helped tired bodies recover

© Pavel Sukhorukov/Red Bull Content Pool

Marcelo Florentino Soares from Brazil is seen prior the 6th stage Tumen - Omsk at the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race in Russia, on July 24, 2017

Any moment to rest and sleep was taken

© Pavel Sukhorukov/Red Bull Content Pool

An experienced support team providing medical, physio and mechanical service as well as food supply were on hand to support the bikers throughout the race.
Wondering how many calories the riders needed each day to make sure they had the right amount of fuel to complete stages? Watch the clip below to find out.
Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme passes through major Russian towns and cities including Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Perm, Ekaterinburg, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Khabarovsk.
The 2018 Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme has already been confirmed to take place from July 24 to August 18, 2018. For further information contact: info@most-sport.com
Cycling