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Transcontinental 2014: Josh Ibbett takes race lead

Last year's runner-up moves into the lead in Croatia on the way from Flanders to Istanbul...

Josh Ibbett has taken the lead from fellow Briton James Hayden in the Transcontinental bike race from Geraardsbergen, Flanders to Istanbul.

Josh, who finished second to Belgium’s Kristof Allegaert last year, caught James yesterday evening after riding fairly close behind (usually 40-60km) for much of the first few days of the race.

After riding with few significant breaks since the race started at midnight last Friday, James (below) booked into a hotel in Croatia last night after suffering badly with neck issues – a common problem on long-distance events –along with bruising and blisters.

Josh, who had a hotel stop the previous night, was able to ride on before taking a much shorter break, and has opened a considerable gap over his rival.

We interviewed Josh last week and he told us that he averaged just 2 1/2hrs of sleep a night during last year’s Transcontinental.

At the time of writing, James is 95km (60 miles) short of the third checkpoint in Vukovar, Croatia, while Josh was there nearly four hours ago and is now 45km (28 miles) the other side. These are direct distances rather than road distances.

Josh has crossed the border into Bosnia and Herzegovina on his way to the fourth checkpoint on Montenegro’s Mount Lovcen. That’s the final checkpoint before Istanbul, Turkey. Riders are free to pick their own route between the checkpoints.

Josh wasn’t aware that he’d taken the lead until he reached the third checkpoint due to technical issues.

“I was chasing the leader all the way to checkpoint 3,” he said. “I slept in a hedge then rode so hard this morning that I couldn’t see and had to stop for a power nap! Turns out I was chasing myself!”

Check out the bike and equipment that Josh is using.

The third placed rider, Alexandre Bourgeonnier, is about 93km (58 miles) behind James. Most other riders are currently in Slovenia and northern Italy with a number still in the south of France after riding to the first checkpoint on Mont Ventoux.

The first female rider to the second checkpoint in Sestriere, Italy, was Emily Chappell. Juliana Buhring, who finished ninth overall and was the only woman to ride the 2013 Transcontinental, has dropped out.

Martin McConnell is also out after being involved in a collision with a car near Pavia, Italy, and seven other riders have officially abandoned for various other reasons.

You can see how all of the riders are doing by going to the live tracker. You’ll see that rider 29, Lee Pearce, is close to checkpoint 4, but bear in mind that he has not been to checkpoint 3 yet.

Riders aren’t allowed support but they can acquire food, drink and equipment en route.

Rider Chris White reported, “I found some race fans… 40km before Briancon in the Durance Valley [France]. It's on the back-road, the D994D. Apparently only about 1 in 10 riders is taking that route.

“They read about the race in the local newspaper the day before and are trying to meet as many riders as they can, preparing the sign as soon as they see someone turn onto their road. Water, Coke, and Pringles are all on offer!

“That was partly what spurred me on to have such a great evening yesterday and get all the way to Sestriere [Italy], which I had never expected to be possible."

For more info go to www.transcontinental.cc or the event’s Facebook page

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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8 comments

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morseykayak | 8 years ago
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Intrigued by the race this year. Cannot work out quite why anybody would want to race it, impressive as it is. But, it makes for great internet viewing/following. Loving the fact they are hitting mountain passes that most will roll up on a day ride, having driven (for Brits) +800 miles to get there.

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lookmanohands | 8 years ago
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Is it not 2015?

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Blinky Yao replied to lookmanohands | 8 years ago
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Yep thats a titltle typo

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Dom | 8 years ago
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#GoJoshGo

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pants | 8 years ago
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Amazing to see the locals supporting riders going past, stuff people can only dream of in the UK, if this was here tacks will be thrown and the pringles on the table will be stolen.

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Scoob_84 replied to pants | 8 years ago
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pants wrote:

Amazing to see the locals supporting riders going past, stuff people can only dream of in the UK, if this was here tacks will be thrown and the pringles on the table will be stolen.

I suggest you give the dunwich dynamo a go one year. Loads of locals along the way enjoying a drink in the garden and cheering the cyclists along.

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STATO | 8 years ago
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Facebook group seems to suggest 29, Lee Pearce, is taking in checkpoint 4 before heading over to checkpoint 3. Suggestion was it might reduce the amount of climbing required. Dont think there is any rule to say checkpoints have to be done in order.

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Darkhairedlord replied to STATO | 8 years ago
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STATO wrote:

Facebook group seems to suggest 29, Lee Pearce, is taking in checkpoint 4 before heading over to checkpoint 3. Suggestion was it might reduce the amount of climbing required. Dont think there is any rule to say checkpoints have to be done in order.

looks like he took a ferry across the adriatic; is that a bit, well ....

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