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TransContinental Race announces 2015 checkpoints

Brutal route choices face cross-Europe racers in third edition of non-stop epic

The TransContinental race has no fixed route, but the checkpoints announced for the 2015 edition will force racers to plan carefully and dig deep to tackle what will have to be a hard journey to Istanbul.

The first two editions of the TransContinental started in London, but organiser Mike Hall and his team are changing the formula next year with a start at midnight on July 24, 2015 on the tough cobbled roads of Belgium.

Riders will then make their way across France to the summit of legendary Tour de France climb Mont Ventoux. At least they'll get to then enjoy a lovely descent.

However they get there, the next checkpoint will be on the French-Italian border where 40km of Alpine gravel road will take them to Checkpoint #2 on the Strada dell’Assietta.

The third checkpoint at Vukovar will draw racers away from the comfortable Croatian coastline on to more remote Balkan roads.

For checkpoint #4, riders will revisit one of the 2014 checkpoints, on Montenegro’s Mount Lovcen.

As in the first two editions, the 2015 TransContinental Race will finish in Istanbul where the Bosphorus comprises the traditional boundary of Europe and Asia.

Mike Hall told Jack Thurston of the Brooks Blog that he's hoping for around 200 riders in 2015 (Brooks is a sponsor of the event). There will be a new category for pairs after controversy in 2014 over whether two competitors riding together amounted to support. Any sort of assistance is strictly forbidden by race rules.

Hall also expects to see more 'all-purpose' road bikes in the 2015 edition, mirroring his own choice of a cyclo-cross bike to win the race around the world in 2011.

“Comfort is really important,” he said. “You can take a lot of risks and use a road bike. It’s good to let the riders chose for themselves, the race becomes a testing ground.

"I don’t want to make too many rules, but we can influence things by putting a high gravel pass in there. That tilts things towards slightly wider tyres. I’m tempted to keep on adding climbs until I’ve weeded out all the tri-bars.”

Belgian Kristof Allegeart has won both editions of the TransContinental to date. Hall concedes his dominance will be hard to crack.

“I’ve thought about offering some training to bring the others up to his level," said Hall. "He’s just so well organised, so efficient with his time. Some of the younger riders will be there in a few years. Experience is important. I found that at this year’s Trans Am race, even though I was down on my fitness, I could rely on my experience.”

Entries for the 2015 TransContinental Race open at midnight on November 7. There are 150 solo spots available and 50 pairs.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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8 comments

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waynemarks | 7 years ago
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Has anyone got a GPX of the route?

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james-o | 9 years ago
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I like the comment about aero bars.

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dave atkinson | 9 years ago
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i'm trying to imagine any 3,000km non-stop race where you *wouldn't* want tri bars. even if you go up every hill on the way, there's a lot of flat and windy riding between belgium and istanbul...

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kitkat | 9 years ago
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The problem with making it really tough is it takes away from the people who think 'I could do that'. I believe it's better to have a broader base of people 'having a go' then make them rule it out from the start.

Flagship events often have the usual suspects winning them time and again, take Rob Jebb and the 3 Peaks as an easy example.

Also statements like "until I’ve weeded out all the tri-bars" makes it sound a bit UCI-esque, I don't like it so I'm going to stop it. Poor old Graeme Obree...

Anyway, good luck, I'd love to take part one day... depending on the parcours  1

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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I have this pencilled in for 2016 IF they let recumbents in....but on that route I would struggle, the previous two would be no issue.

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Freygeist replied to Gkam84 | 8 years ago
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I would love to do it on a recumbent too! Hopefully they let us in, one time!!!  7  20

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geargrinderbeard | 9 years ago
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Even though I said never again, I still haven't got rid of the pins and needles in my fingers, my wife would kill me and I would become a "training hermit" again I can't help been drawn back...

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themartincox | 9 years ago
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No stopping for injured riders next year for me! Looking forward to it already!

now, where's my A1 vinyl european map!

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