BikingMan


BikingMan is a French-based organization that organises unstaged, self-supported, ultra distance cycling events, in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It was founded in 2016 by Axel Carion, who came back from cycling across South America in 2015 and wanted to share the experience of cycling unknown places in survival conditions for endurance athletes.

Self-supported ultra cycling

The self-supported nature of the BikingMan races makes it different from supported ultra-distance events like the Race Across America, in which each racer has a large support crew with multiple vehicles and where pure performance cycling is needed to finish these races. The carbon footprint of the races are kept to a minimum, support cars outside BikingMan organizations media cars, are strictly forbidden.
Being self-supported means that drafting is not allowed, receiving any form of support from other racers, friends, or family is not allowed; all food, accommodation, repairs, etc., must be purchased from commercial sources if they can find any on the road. The organizer provides a mandatory route, a GPS tracker to control the progression of every participant and potential cheating and a road book. Riders must strategically choose how much time to devote to riding, resting, and refueling each day.
It is not a stage race, the clock never stops from the moment the riders leave the start to the moment that they reach the finish. Orienteering plays a major role as most of the races' locations are unknown to most participants.

Rules of BikingMan races

  1. Athletes are self-supported and need to handle their fueling, repairs and rest during the race
  2. All athletes must ride from the start location to the finish location while crossing the mandatory checkpoints in the right order
  3. Every athlete needs to stamp her/his progression at every manned checkpoint in the opening time windows
  4. Drafting and riding as a pack are forbidden
  5. Every athlete needs to carry a GPS tracking system to trace her/his progression
  6. External assistance of any kind is forbidden
  7. No support cars are allowed
  8. SOLO or pair riders can attempt the races
The complete rule set is available in the race manual of every race

How to follow the race

BikingMan events are all covered by a limited number of media cars from the organization. The events are therefore presented live on social networks, namely the Instagram and Facebook accounts of the organization.
During races, and on a daily basis, a story-based article is published on the Exposure page of the organization, as well as an additional article for the leaderboard once the race is completed.
All participants are equipped with a GPS tracker, which allows to share their position on a live-tracking website.

Season 2017

In 2017 was held the first BikingMan event; the IncaDivide race, which took 17 athletes in the Andes mountains of Ecuador and Peru. A brutal race where the main challenge for every racer was to battled against high altitude cycling conditions of the Andes.

Calendar of the races

Results

Season 2018

In 2018, introduced the 1st ultra cycling championship which gathered athletes from around the globe to race the Hajar mountains of Oman, across the Andes Cordillera of Peru with , around Corsica and in Taiwan.
On the "Sprint" BikingMan 2018 races, base camps were built at the checkpoints where athletes could rest. Compulsory manned checkpoints are settled on the athletes route to stamp their progression, validate their physical state and eventually scratch the athletes who don't respect the closing times of every checkpoint.

Calendar of the races

Results

2018 Championship ranking

Participants enter the season ranking once they have completed, as finishers, 2 BikingMan series races.
PositionFemale RiderMale RiderPair Riders
1stPerrine Fages Rodney Soncco Mohamed Al Chandoubi / Hatem Al Booshri
2ndN/ANiel Copeland Reinhard Mink / Anne Wursthorn
3rdN/AMichelangelo Pacifico N/A
4thN/ARobbie Ferri N/A
5thN/AMarcus Leach N/A
6thN/AMarco Beligni N/A
7thN/AMarcel Esser N/A
8thN/ARodrigue Lombard N/A
9thN/AXavier Massart N/A
10thN/AFabian Burri N/A

Season 2019

The 2019 season introduced 2 new events: Laos in May, and Portugal in September, bringing the series to a total of 6 events, all parts of the 2019 championship.

Calendar of the races

Race NameFormatStart locationFinish locationDatesDistance Total elevation gain Mandatory CheckpointsTime limit
BikingMan Oman 2019SprintBarka city Old Muscat February 24, 20191035720025 days
120 hours
BikingMan Corsica 2019SprintBigulia Biguglia April 29, 20197001300035 days
120 hours
BikingMan Laos 2019SprintLuang Prabang Luang Prabang May 20, 20197801100025 days
120 hours
IncaDivide 2019DivideTrujillo Trujillo August 14, 2019165023500310 days
240 hours
BikingMan Portugal 2019SprintFaro Faro September 23, 20199501000025 days
120 hours
BikingMan Taiwan 2019SprintTaipei Taipei November 4, 201911501800025 days
120 hours

Results

Race NameStartersFinishers1st Female1st Male1st Pair
BikingMan Oman 20197569Jasmijn Muller in 45h37Rodney Soncco in 38h17minCristian Auriemma / Jeff Webb in 58h59min
BikingMan Corsica 20196761Helle Bachofen Von Echt Muller in 41h03Rodney Soncco in 30h52minHatim Al Booshri & Mohammed Al Shandoudi in 40h07min
BikingMan Laos 20191511N/AJason Black in 51h52minRomain Level & Simon Noel in 69h10min
BikingMan Peru / IncaDivide 20194412N/ASofiane Sehili in 135h35minVictoria De Sa & Bruno Rosa in 210h09min
BikingMan Portugal 20197564Helle Bachofen Von Echt in 62h40Romain Wartel in 40h12minHatim Al Booshri & Mohammed Al Shandoudi in 56h30
BikingMan Taiwan 20192214Julie Melville in 114h41Bryce Bénat in 71h47minCristian Auriemma / Jeff Webb in 74h16

2019 Series Ranking

Final 2019 Rankings after the race in Taiwan - as of November 15, 2019.
Participants enter the season ranking once they have completed, as finishers, 2 BikingMan races
Current RankFemale CategoryMale CategoryPair Category
1st RankHelle Bachofen Von Echt Rodney Sonnco Hatim AL BOOSHRI & Mohammed AL SHANDOUDI
2nd RankJulie Melville Guillaume Chaumont Jeff Webb & Cristian Auriemma
3rd RankEleonora Balbi Jonas Deichmann Musaab AL BOOSHRI & Mshari AL KHALILI

Season 2020

The 2020 season will be composed of 6 events with new routes unveiled on Oman, Corsica, Peru and Laos. Brazil will be part of the series for its first time. The crown jewel event incadivide will unveil a course in the sacred valley of the Incas around Cusco city.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Following the global pandemic and many locked-down countries, the race calendar has been modified by the race organisation to adapt to the situation with the races in Brazil, Peru and Laos canceled, while the 2020 edition of BikingMan Corsica, initially scheduled for April 2020, is planned for October 2020.
The 2020 series will therefore be composed of 3 events out of the 6 initially planned.

Calendar of the races

Race NameFormatStart locationFinish locationDatesDistance Total elevation gain Mandatory CheckpointsTime limit
BikingMan Oman 2020SprintMuscat Muscat February 22, 20201,0608,70025 days
120 hours
BikingMan Portugal 2020SprintFaro Faro September 21, 202095012,00025 days
120 hours
BikingMan Corsica 2020SprintBigulia Biguglia October 26, 202085015,00025 days
120 hours
BikingMan Brazil 2020SprintTaubaté Taubaté Canceled1,00017,00025 days
120 hours
IncaDivide 2020DivideCusco Cusco Canceled1,60038,000314 days
336 hours
BikingMan Laos 2020SprintLuang Prabang Luang Prabang Canceled92017,00025 days
120 hours

Results

Race NameStartersFinishers1st Female1st Male1st Pair
BikingMan Oman 20208067Elizabeth Dunne in 70h47Laurent Boursette in 43h36minCristian Auriemma / Jeff Webb in 53h32min

Links