Transcontinental: Racing 4,000km from Belgium to Greece in less than nine days

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The Transcontinental race has wrapped up its ninth edition, with Cristoph Strasser once again the first rider to traverse the nearly 4,000km distance between the checkpoints that ran from Belgium through to Greece.

The self-supported race, founded by ultra-endurance leader Mike Hall who tragically lost his life on the roads of Australia 6 years ago, has continued to grow and evolve, with riders facing a shorter but more mountainous route in 2023. The field of around 350 riders this year also faced mandatory gravel sections along the journey from the start on the unrelenting cobbled ascent of the Muur-Kepelmuur in Geraardsbergen on July 23 to Thessaloniki.

Between the two points, riders plotted their course across the continent through four checkpoints, climate extremes and up to 11 border crossings. The icy conditions came early in the journey, with the first control point taking riders to the heights of the Italian Alps and over some of the highest paved roads in the region to reach the Passo dello Spluga and registration in Livigno. 

Then while the competitors may have had control of their own path, the location of checkpoint 2 meant there was little choice but for a mountainous route to the control point at Zgornje Jezersko in the Slovenian Alps. This took riders to the Carinthian region, a place of rugged peaks and dense forests where the paved roads give way to rougher surfaces, sometimes gravel and sometimes rough-hewn rock.

After that, the race headed down to checkpoint three in Albania, into remote territory and through the mountains to Peshkopi before moving on to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Meteora in Greece. The monasteries perched on the giant sandstone rock pillars were actually the finish destination in the fifth and sixth editions of the race, this year, however, as the fourth control point, it signalled the final stretch. From Meteora, riders turned northeast toward the coast and Thessaloniki to dip their wheels in the Aegean Sea as a symbolic conclusion to a journey across Europe.

The winning rider, Strasser, took his final pedal stroke of the race after 8 days, 16 hours and 30 minutes, and the final rider in the official GC arrived near on a week later. However, even now, some of the tracking dots are still working their way across the map, as while the race for GC positions may be over, the extraordinary sense of achievement for those who complete the journey remains.

There is a myriad of notable achievements transpiring along the thousands of kilometres between the start and finish, than just who wins the race, but for now, let us take a look at the top and final GC finishers, the first pair, the fastest woman and green leaderboard winner.

Neck and neck to Greece for Strasser and Gemperle

Austrian rider Christoph Strasser won the 2022 edition of the Transcontinental in 9 days and 15 hours, more than eight hours ahead of his nearest rival Adam Bialek, even with a one-hour penalty after he shouted a rival Ulrich Bartholmoes a can of coke when his card didn't work – undoubtedly a sportsman-like gesture but one that fell foul of the strict self-support requirement.

It was an impressive result as while Strasser was an accomplished ultra-endurance racer, being a six-time Race Across America Winner, self-supported racing was a whole new ball game back then. 

"Last year seems like a warm-up ride for this year,” said Strasser in a statement from Transcontinental Race organisers.

Then in 2023, while he had the experience, there was another element that threw in an unknown element, and that was the mountains and gravel – an area the rider considered a weakness pre-race. Though perhaps not so much anymore, given he took victory in Thessaloniki after eight days, 16 hours and 30 minutes.

It was a close run battle through much of the journey, with Robin Gemperle ahead at checkpoint 1, Strasser taking the lead by just 19 minutes at Zgornje Jezersko, and while it was close heading into Greece, Strasser kept pushing to open up the gap further and finished more six hours ahead of his Swiss rival, who had won the Atlas Mountain Race earlier in 2023.

“In the race, it was the excitement to go to my limit, the excitement of the battle and challenge with Robin. I think we have been motivating each other - when you see the other is going deep, you want to do your best, and the other way around.” 

Now the question is will he return for the tenth edition of the Transcontinental in 2024 and make it three victories?

“I can imagine I will be back," said Strasser. "Maybe we will see other strong riders beyond me and Robin. After two successful races, there is no reason for me to stop and if strong people are here, I am very motivated to return.”

The Green Leaderboard

There was a new category introduced to the race this year, with the very first Green Leaderboard. It was designed to incentivise and reward riders opting for sustainable travel approaches, avoiding flights and travelling overland to and from the race as part of the effort to reduce the overall carbon footprint.

“We've experienced the effects of climate-related extreme weather events first-hand in our Racing grounds, with severe flooding in Slovenia putting riders at risk while raging heatwaves in the south of Europe exacerbated riders' suffering on an already arduous route,” TCRNo9 Race Coordinator and GL Lead Hannah Larbalestier, said in a statement.

About a quarter of the field was part of the Green Leader board, which was won by the third-placed rider on GC, Tim de Witte, who headed home from Thessaloniki. on buses and trains. De Witte finished in nine days, ten hours and 12 minutes.

Fastest women

The Transcontinental doesn't have a women's category as this is a type of racing where women have a history at the very top of the overall leaderboard. In fact, it was Fiona Kolbinger who won the Transcontinental in 2020, over in the United States Lael Wilcox has won the Trans Am while Sarah Hammond won the Race to the Rock, through the Australian outback three times in a row.

In 2023 at the Transcontinental it was Jaimi Wilson who was the fastest woman, finishing in 11 days, seven hours and 39 minutes or 25th overall in the GC. It was then Marei Moldenhauer that was next, just three hours back. The British rider had been hoping to post a result higher up the overall standings, but next year could perhaps still deliver that opportunity.

"Despite the disappointment, the most important part is that I really did have an amazing two weeks or so, including riding to the start of the race, hurtling my way through 11 very distinct countries travelling in the best way possible, as always by bike," said Wilson in an Instagram post. 

"The landscapes were at times mind-blowing, the people legends and the animals even more so (apart from the stray dogs), the chaos of the Balkans threw me back in time and I cherished the chaos and the freedom that accompanies it."
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Fastest pair

There were only two pairs finishing the Transcontinental within the GC in 2023 and the first of these, Sherry Cardona and Gereon Tewes pulled out a clear lead and finished after ten days, 21 hours and 42 minutes.

“The TCR was a bucket list experience," said the Colombian and German duo in a race media release. "I thought it would be more physically challenging, but it was more mentally challenging … This was kind of the first race where we wanted to race really well [rather than simply finish it], which introduces more conflicts into a Pair situation.

"Everything is a joint decision, and communication and experience really helped us - we agreed it’s a race and an adventure together and, if things don't go as planned, it's still a good trip. We are a couple, so it helps with these conflicts along the way.”

Maglia Nera

The Maglia Nera was awarded in the Giro d'Italia, between 1946 and 1951, going to the rider who finished last on GC. While it may be many years since it was donned in the Italian Grand Tour, the Transcontinental awards this to the last rider over the line within the GC cut-off. There were 125 riders that finished within the limit, the last being James Vernon, who rolled into Thessaloniki and was greeted by those who were continuing the finishers' party late into the evening, stopping the clock at 15 days and 18 minutes.