Race Preview: The Unknown Race 1st Edition (TURn01)

The Unknown Race: Rider preview 

Day 1 morning: Target acquired

Day 1 Evening: more action than a Stalone and Schwarzenegger movie Combined

It’s been a cold one, and a sleepless one for many

Breaking - Sebastian Sarx first to reach the Finish point of TURn01

Podium complete by nightfall on day 3

Final flurry of finishers and the end to a successful TURn01

Sebastian Sarx

Julien Roissard

David Geraci

Anatole Naimi

Jair Hoogland

Mathias Blockelet

Kilian Wagner

Nils Kamminga Garcia

Paul Niehoff

Jonathan Stuyven

Joep van Luijt

Fabian Wurm

Maximilian Siering

Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi

Valentin Ogrzewalla

Martijn van Loon

Raphael Ottiger

Jan-Willem Bobbink

Jesko von Werthern

Simon Gwiggner

Tomas Kovacs

Claudia Decker

Rubén Montero

Joseph Eustace

Gaspar Rodriguez

Christopher Herndler

Jochen Czabaun

Laurens Wolting

Martin Berndt

Jacob Wassermann

Joel Karolin

Etienne Poueyo

Patrick Doupe

Denise Vorberg

Maxime Chagneau

Nicolas Müller

Thomas Ettema

Pierre Gouyou Beauchamps

Alex Lopez

Urs Mannhart

Wouter van der Hallen

Joost Hess

Fabian Burri

Kurt Verheyden

Guilhem Athiel

Gary Short

Gregory Marchand

Ulrich Rösner

Thomas Jacquelinet

Benjamin Rogé

Jean Guihéneuf

Martijn Driedonks

Sergey Kamagaev

Anabell Orenz

Kanza Yous

Michiel Seevinck

Emmanuel Coltat

Pierre Villez

Andrew Phillips

Linda Farczadi

Philippe Béchet

Jakub Kopecký

Raphael Albrecht

Jerome Frery

Ralph Cullen

Flint Clarke

Matthew Clarke

Gina Monzón

Niklas Taffner


The Unknown race stands out in this year’s calendar as a fresh, new example of what a bikepacking race can be. Making a splash as one of the early season openers, our dotwatching winter famine is in for a real feast.

A race concept was born out of the sleepy, hungry and cold aftermath of the Two Volcano Race in 2022, three veterans were inspired to create a new race format that has surprise running through its veins.

But what makes this so different, you ask? There are 2 aspects that are uniquely different from others in the race calendar:

### The route 
Or what we could call the mystery tour. 
Up until this evening, the 68 intrepid adventurers thought there were only 2 CheckPoints to be revealed, based on the latest version of the briefing manual. In fact, the organisers kept a sneaky 3rd CP up their sleeves, and have also released a start and finish parcours. 

This came as the biggest surprise to rider __Gary Short__ who boarded a plane in Greece thinking he only has 2 CPs to deal with, and landed in France to the news of the new additions and the continued French public transport strikes. *Bienvenue en France, Gary* :) 

Although they now know there are 3 CPs, the riders are still none the wiser as to the location of any of them. At 6am CET on Friday April 7th, all registered riders will receive a group what’s app notification with the coordinates of Checkpoint 1. The early bird dotwatchers amongst us will also be able to see the location of CP1 as it is revealed on the Follow My Challenge map.

One hour later, the riders will start from Cafe du Cycliste in Lyon, and roll out along the 30km pre-released neutralised start. 

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=42428499&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

After that, they are on their own making their individual ways towards CP1 -  with or without a finished route. And that’s all they know until they reach CP1. 

The mystery will become slightly clearer once they reach CP1. The task at hand on arrival is to locate a very visible signpost. Taped behind this signpost the coordinates of CP2 will be on a piece of paper, and the next phase of route planning can commence.

Luckily for the riders, the way to find out the coordinates for CP3 is exactly the same at CP2 - find the signpost and look for something taped behind it. Once 10 riders have successfully made their way to CP2, the location will then be visible to us on the FMC map. 

With the location of the 3rd and final checkpoint identified, the riders now know everything they need to make it back to the finish line along the mandatory parcours and be ready for a celebratory cold beverage at Le Comptoir in Lyon. 

We as dotwatchers will know the location of CP3 once 5 riders have navigated their way through.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=42428509&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

The organisers estimate the route to ≈1000km long, depending on route choice. There has been some guesses on the potential locations of the route and the checkpoints from the riders: Mont Ventoux was a sensible choice but has been disqualified by the riders in the chat because the road isn’t open until May 5th.

__Linda Farczadi__ has estimated a maximum radius, and also put in a request to head south to the beach - and not back to her homeland of Switzerland with its current autumnal weather.

![Linda Farczadi TURno1 route wish list](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7LwwzuYGVmBpoMJVoh6eev/eb7f061fb5a6ad0252b4d522e43c920e/339358162_1193988661283457_5605925780880536205_n.jpg)
*(image from Linda Farcazadi)*

Beach is also a hope from rider __Joep Van Luijt__ who has mounted some tyres used for the Dutch beaches back in his homeland. 

![Joep's beach tyres](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/78QY1qcbqd8hopuDfy7rkF/ef48e558a3ca58362f1cfde0dc01fcde/7d9b7159-2d55-46ee-9e73-cd69c9f414af.jpg)
*(image form Joep van Luijt)*

Despite all the best guesstimates, it is sure that over four days, with live rerouting, it is not going to be easy to make it back in time for the finisher party at 6pm CET April 10th. However, along with a few chilled beverages and belly-laugh inducing stories, there is a good reason to try and make it back to the finishers party in 1st place…

### The reward

It is well known that if you want to be rich, famous and admired, bikepacking racing is not the path you should choose. So why try and finish first? Well, The Unknown Race has given the riders a new incentive. 

As a not for profit organisation, the spare cash from rider registration (see below about how this is calculated and other sources of the final amount) will be donated to a charity at the end of the race. Which charity? That choice is the privilege of the first rider back. 

Inspired by the community spirit infused in the 2VS by Juliana Bürhing, the organisers wanted to create an opportunity for this beautiful sport to help even more people, and so giving back is central to the race design. 

A few other elements also set this race apart:
- Penalities and the self-supported ethos.  
The self-supported ethos has been quite well established in the community, and this organiser team has kept things consistent linking to the great videos created by the late Mike Hall. Where they are introducing a new dynamic is the recording and impact of breaking these rules. There will be no time penalties for riders breaking the self-supported rules, instead other riders are requested to take a photo of any evidence, report it to the organisers who will then disqualify the rider. Let’s see how this works out in helping keep our sport self-policed.

- Media licences - Of which there are none. Sponsored riders are strongly encouraged by the organisers to ask their brands to make a donation to the charity instead of paying a media license. This will be added to the pot mentioned above.

- Organiser transparency. Each participant has paid 95euros for their place. The organisers have published the transparency of their costs and all remaining funds will be made available for the charity. Curious what a 1st year, grass roots event needs to function? Here is the info from the manual:

![rider costs TURn01](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1xG62ZuXEaQEDxKa6YoBfM/449af67601304ea6c3f65c1a8f5a8a0f/IMG_0008.PNG)

### Will tech be the best routing solution?

A quick instagram poll (only the highest of scientific research in the dotwatcher coverage here, thank you very much) has shown this split of routing tools by the riders who answered:

![rider routing poll](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/vNTwg8DCYJAkAqaWoMe3W/da481ae9c9896e820bd1e34884f8d83b/IMG_2306.PNG)

One of the ‘other’ options submitted by __Jesko von Werthern__ is celestial navigation assisted by map and compass. Fingers crossed for some clear skies along with the full moon this weekend for him.

Other ‘other’ options included BikeRouter.de that was mentioned a couple of times, and one brave soul is using Google Maps… incredibly brave.

### What has our amateur sleuthing uncovered about the unknown elements of the route?

Not much.
One hint in the Rider’s manual released on March 3rd is the permission to use ferries for river/lake crossings. Can we guess at a crossing of the Rhône to cover the mountain ranges on both sides of Lyon? Or is it a potential red herring?

Mandatory kit list is very standard to all races: no helmet, no lights - no race. Yet absolutely no help in guessing the potential terrain.

We do know the estimated distance, as given by the organisers. Unfortunately, no total elevation clues. With the start and finish in Lyon, it would be surprising if there isn’t some significant bumps for the riders to climb over. We can at least assume (with reasonable certainty) that some easy gearing will be on the startline.

Weather predictions for Lyon are offering up highs of 16-20oC over the Easter weekend, but chilly nights with temps dropping to 4oC. If the route does go higher, versatile layering and cosy sleep kit will be essential. 

A late dumping of snow in the French alps over the last couple of weeks may make for some pot holing adventures by the most courageous (or crazy) riders - all depending on the final route direction and navigation choices.

And that’s all we know. 

A relatively short race, with so much unknown, it is clear that preparation over planning is the key to quelling pre-race nerves. Yet preparation will only get you so far - a keen sense of agility to adapt to new information, making decisions from the saddle and (most crucially) having a reliable routing tool, are the skills that will set the field apart.

The race has certainly attracted a wide range of riders, with quite a few bikepacking veterans. Check back tomorrow to see who we have found for you to keep an eye on. 

Will this new format give us some unknown names to watch? Or will the extensive experience of the weathered riders in this community be the foundation that helps them make decisions fast? Will patchy mobile networks be the downfall of many and the old school map be the surest navigation tool? Or will it just come down to whoever can find resupply points open in France over Easter weekend?

One thing is certain: it is all very unknown.

*(header image from The Unknown Race)*


Being a first edition race, and with such an intriguing new format, The Unkown Race has brought out the most curious of the bike packing community. Tomorrow will see 68 riders that have come from around Europe embark on this new adventure. There are some names that you may recognise, and a few new ones to add to your favourite list on the FMC map:

__Joel Karolin__ is Swiss based and cycled from Biel/Bienne directly to Lyon to loosen up the legs and do some last minute kit testing - a meagre 312 km and 3784m of climbing seems to be his interpretation of a kit-test ride. Take note if he evers invites you for a Sunday coffee ride… Also coming from one of few the bilingual cities in Switzerland, his French language will help throughout the weekend unless someone asks him to count to 70 (*that’s a language nerd joke for the francophiles out there… I apologise*) 

__Tomas Kovacs__ - Trying to bring some simplicity and reduce the unknowns during the race, he is riding fixed. The good news is that Fixed gear bicycles are legal in France with only an additional front brake, so there is no need to try and engineer anything special around a double cog back wheel. We are not sure what ratio he is riding but will try to find out as the race progresses. 

__Nils Kamminga__, a name familiar for being behind the lens at ultra races is saddling up this weekend to ride. A very accomplished rider in his own rights, we are in for a treat of some beautiful shots from the saddle as well as a strong pair of legs moving his dot across the map. 

__Anatole Naimi__ is one of the organisers, but is such a believer in the concept that he decided to ride the first edition. As a recent finisher as part of a pair with Victor (one of the other organisers) at AMR this year, you can guarantee he has the endurance to make it to the end. Rest assured, there are currently only 3 people that know the location of the CPs, and Anatole is not one of them.

__Jesko Von Werthen__ has finishes from 3 editions of The Transatlantic way, The transcontinental, and Race Through Poland. I think that speaks for itself. Add him to your favourites already.

__Simon Gwingger__ seems to like some self-inflicted misery, and has cycled to the start from the Tyrol going via all the bad weather and mountain passes he could find. 2023 Strava totals show an impressive 36 952m of climbing already - if the route heads into the lumpy bits around Lyon he will be in his element.

__Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi__ was following the same route as Simon coming through Switzerland from her homebase in Innsbruck. She has also been out on the bike through the  winter, with a 2023 total elevation gain of 54 046m, and over 4000km logged - and we are only April 6th! An Austrian rider for your dotwatching pleasure, guaranteed.

__Claudia Decker__ is a new vetran to the ultra cycling world, bringing with her the skills and experience earned completing the Race Through Poland last year, in a very strong 26th position. She’s a quiet one, and that is a good enough reason to keep an eye on her dot. 

__Fabien Wurm__ is ticking off his second ultra this year after finishing AMR in February. A seasoned athlete including finishes at Three Peaks race last year, fingers crossed he hasn’t brought the cold weather from the Atlas Mountains with him to this race. A good dot to watch.

__Thomas Ettema__ has been putting himself through the trials of ultra cycling since 2017, with a start at the Transcontinental. The following years have seen him roll out for Three peaks and TransPyrenes (lost dot) with a 33rd position finish last year. A clear fan of the big mountains, he will be happy if the route heads east tomorrow morning.

__Denise Vorberg__ is a seasoned endurance vetran finishing both the Transpyrenees (Transiberica) and the 2VS last year - which was brutal in eliminating riders who weren’t prepared for the weather. With such a strong background and grit to make anyone proud, her dot is another one to keep tabs on.

__Kurt VerHeyden__ has the sparsest social media profile of the riders, and that is because he has been too busy finsihing gruelling races - since 2015. An original in the scene lining up at Transcontinental in 2015, he finished 5th at Northcape 400 in 2017 and started SMR in 2019. Expect things from this rider and his stead.

__Étienne Poueyo__ is a new name on the startlist, but is already showing his resourcefulness and ability to prepare. A friendly share in the what’s app group let the other riders know the full moon will be bright, and he is prepared with a rather fetching neutral grey eyemask. Sleep quality is more important that sleep quantity, and he knows this. 

Pairs. As always, pairs get the advantage of being able to draft, share tools and food, and efficiencies at stops (in the theory). With the tensions of rapid decision making and route crafting, it will be interesting to see if these 4 pairs make it around still on speaking terms by Monday 6pm cet.

__Flint Clarke__ is a remarkable dot that you should be favouriting, as he is  the youngest rider in Lyon, at 14 years old, and also fundraising for Tom’s Trust, a children’s brain tumour charity which supports families with mental health care, in honour of his little sister Mimi, 13, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He is riding with his father (__Matthew Clarke__) as part of a pair. 

__Jacob Kopecy__, another name that is know for his media coverage of events such as Badlands, and the reason why many fall asleep dreaming of those beautiful landscapes, is paring up with __Raphael Albrecht__ who is the name behind the increidbely successful Orbit 360 series. Orbit 360 series shares the same ethos as this race with their ‘ride for a reason’ motivation.

__Philippe Bechet__  and __Linda Farcazi__ have very recent (and maybe unpleasant) memeories of the Lausanne Gravel supported Orbit 360 season opener from last month. They both rode through the night and torrential storms from Lake Constance to Lausanne - a pair that can clearly deal with adversity and coming from Switzerland will not be afraid of the spiky horizon. 

__Gina Monzón__ and __Niklas Taffner__ are heading south from Saarbrücken for the start. Lovers of the dirt tracks local to them, they are primed for any gravel that may be included on route, and as amateur dancers, we might see some special moves en route, if not at the finishers party.

The Unkown Race did offer up the possibility to ride as a trio, but nobody registered as such. 

And there are many more incredible riders starting out tomorrow - with an intimate start pack of only 68, it is going to be fun to see how close to 68 different routes we will see. 

All that is left to do is prep the coffee for tomorrow, and I will meet you at the FMC map at 6am CET to see where these intrepid adventurers are heading tomorrow!


68 phones lit up at 6am sharp this morning with a series of numbers that have been eagerly awaited: 45.973929N, 6.350030E

As of 6am CET today, the FMC map has a new shiny black dot nestled in the alpine hills north east of Annecy. Riders have been frantically planning their route to reach  Gilières de Bornes. Those eager dotwatchers amongst us will have spotted that the location is not on a paved route, and the riders will have to make their way up a 5km gravel track from the west to reach the CP. 

The riders will have been happy to see there is a Ferme-auberge in proximity that will be able to fill up empty stomachs, and even offer some sleep options for them as they arrive at Chez Constance, a family owned restaurant auberge that has been  managed by the same family through 3 generations, and offers a good selection of local hard cheese - perfect for stuffing in a bag for the next leg.

There were no major events reported from the neutralised start, and the riders have split into 2 main groups leading out of Lyon. The ‘Jura lovers’ have headed North-east-east and are following the valley through the bottom of the Jura to loop around to Annecy. This is the more direct route, but will bring with it a little extra climbing, and much colder temps early in the morning. The Jura also received some snow in the last few weeks and is home to the coldest place in France. These are brave souls.

The second group are enjoying the valley flats heading initially south-east out of Lyon, before looping back up the Rhône river that makes the border between the Ain and Saône departments in France. Although less direct, it is a flatter route, and with better, fast-rolling infrastructure that will favour the speedy riders amongst the group.

The two groups will eventually meet again around Culoz where they can choose from a few options to reach Annecy: 1) head to the most northern road and follow the valley around the top of Mont de Princes; 2) Head north but take a right and ride the beautiful gorge between Mont de Princes and Montagne de gros Foug; 3) D the climb up and over Mont Clergeon; or 4) Head south to Aix-les-bains on the faster infrastructure and loop up back to Annecy.

As we publish Thomas Jacquelinet’s (Cap 60) is the furthest ahead and has been knocking out an incredible 32km/h average speed so far. Nearly 4 hours in and no stops logged by the tracker. 

He is not alone with Joel Karlin (Cap 50) and Paul Niehoff (cap 49) riding closely together and following his route north along the rhone.

Now with some clues that the organisers are a fan of contour lines, we may see some strategies from riders to conserve energy and climbing legs early in the game. Or will the mountain lovers be rejoicing in their saddle and celebrating with some Easter chocolate at the prospect of excellent alpine views and seemingly endless switchbacks..? 

When I said there are 2 groups, it was not strictly true. There are 2 dots that have decided to head much further north through the Jura. Those 2 dots are the Pairs riders Ralph Cullen and Jerome Frey from Belgium. Both experienced ultra riders, they have placed their bets that the smooth fast tarmac crossing more civilisation may be the faster route. Based on their current trajectory, they will pop in just south of Geneva and be the only riders to reach Annecy from the North West.

With divergence already showing the different thinking of the riders, the rest of the day will be telling to see who has biked up to embrace a little off road short cut into CP1, and who is putting all there (Easter?) eggs in one basket for on road speed.

There has been a disqualification already. Rider Benjamin Rogé (cap 69) was removed from the rankings because of non respect of traffic laws (going through a red light). 

The organisers were clear in their brief that respect of traffic laws is part of the rules, and are showing that they are fearless in implementing the consequences. It may be viewed as harsh (raise your hand if you have never jumped a red light - I thought not…) or as setting an example that this is just a bike race, and not getting hurt (or worse) in a traffic incident is more important. We all recognise that traffic is one of the biggest dangers in this sport, and the organisers are taking this seriously for everyone’s benefit.

While the riders keep pedalling towards the east, let's take a minute to see what has been happening from check-in until the roll out this morning.

First up, bike check was being carried out by the cutest and fluffiest bike mechanic in all the land:
![Cat bike inspection](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2Y2gQqU0k0toifgM8C2ejY/baf6f62fa74e602db1b25e47d68346f3/16ed0478-45e4-41ff-8110-01c97730b79e.jpg)
Photo Jean Guihéneuf

The pre-ride frenzy at Le cafe du Cyclist this morning was very coordinated and stylish with a blindingly large array of neon visibility straps:

![Unknown race pre-start](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3acOsyidLkS6Z8rHEp0dSN/3eb151ca8bf4c03a2ff6023cda505c45/IMG_2320.PNG)

Some riders have come prepared to be able to draft their route to checkpoint one with the biggest screen available, such as Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi who had the luxurious use of a computer. 

![Hannah computer routing](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2CM2ImG4kG6b4DwWVsS3NM/3d3e157a2685c221b8bac20f944ed182/IMG_2319.PNG)

Helpful if you haven't had a morning coffee yet and the eyes are struggling to open, like Jacob Wassermann who is one of the riders who would have voted for a later start.

![Flamingo bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4e3gWEDlSBonWjDSGpLEyX/c141da781dc901092a6c8765d30ff32b/IMG_2321.PNG)

Maximilian Siering is ready for all tech navigation options, with 2 wahoos and a phone. As a veteran of TCR no8 last year, and also taking on All Points north this year, he obviously knows what he is doing when it comes to following a route:

![Multi navigation](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6OUt0pSHvqNwZ94dsNvNp9/f14f56022b7b40befec15588c11dfc0c/IMG_2318.PNG)

Tomas Kovacs who is riding fixed and is currently in 45th place, got back to us with his ratio for the race. He is running a beefy 51t upfront, with 17t cog for the flats up back and a flip to 22t for the climbs. We believe he is a messenger back in Bratislava, so has many miles on fixed in those legs - let’s hope the organisers have not added in too man crazy gradients that a 51x22 can't handle

Speaking of bikes, if you haven't had a chance, now is a good time to check out the Bikes of Unknown race [here](https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of-the-unknown-race-2023 "bikes of"). 

It has been an exciting start to the race, with a disqualification, route choice splits and high speed leaders rocketing their way towards checkpoint 1. Will Chez Constance have enough tartiflette for 68 hungry riders? Will the first rider reach the CP before nightfall and have the privilege of finding the next coordinates with daylight on their side? Has the full moon brought out some wild behaviour in the group?

We’ll be keeping our eyes on the map throughout the day to try and see what can become a little less Unkown. Until tonight!


Only 12 hours in and, boy, do we have some things to report!!!

Paul Niehoff was the first to CP1 in a blisteringly fast time of 7hours 8 minutes checking off the first milestone surrounded by snow.

![Paul Niehoff](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5UTyRx5o2JrPDlqM0YjGhn/db9a100707c4fd5946620178cdc7981a/BE3EDC3D-13B0-4329-9228-202D43C473EC.jpg)

(photo of Paul Niehoff by Martijn Driedonks)

Only 10 minutes later Joel Karolin was at the mystery signpost collecting the coordinates for CP2. The 2 riders didnt stop long before heading on their way towards the next signpost. 

Current FMC records show only 20 mins stopping for Paul and 38mins for Joel, and they have been following exactly the same route. Now headed south and nearing Grenoble, Paul is in the lead by only 30kms. Night fall with arrive in about 90minutes and we will see who is prepared to keep pushing into the night.

3rd person to arrive at CP1 was David Garaci, still under the 8hour mark, and apparently found an alternate route up to the CP which included a 14% climb - obviously not slowing him down. A man showing he can think differently to make things happen quickly, on arrival at CP1 he used his Garmin to recalculate the route directly and wins the prize fo the fatest turn around at CP1.

Close on David’s rubber tail, Sébastien Sarx found CP1 three minutes later and was the last of the riders to arrive under snow.

The women’s field has been keeping things lively, with Claudia Decker arriving as first woman and looking strong, but also surprised she was in first place. Duly so as Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi was on a measly 15 minutes behind her. Hannah used her mountain knowledge and decided to make her way back down into the valley to warm up before planning her route to CP2.

Both women are demonstrating strong riding:rest time ratio with Claudia only stopping for 56mins and Hannah 38mins, as of publishing. Both are back down in to the valley and speeding south, keep your eyes on their dots as darkness falls to see what sleep strategies the women will take.

All over the field, the mechanical gremlins have been having a field day, especially with punctures:

Jair Hooglad had 2 punctures on his way to CP1; Anatole Naimi had a double puncture on the way which took him 1hour and 45 mins to fix but is still in 5th place; Father and Son pir Flint and Matthew Clarke, have been putting through some significant watts managing to have a chain break not just once but twice; Jesko Von Wethern found himself with only 4 working gears 150km from the start, and we have no update as to whether he has been able to fix it or not; Joep van Luijt was also targeted by the puncture gremlins but came away quickly and is back on track; and finally Jonathan Stuyven won a puncture stop, and we think he found the most picturesque place to do it.

![Puncture ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5tJhtE11CBVNQ4yJeA91PU/d5854c56ecee95113e71c2a110df8892/IMG_2330.PNG)

Joep, despite the puncture gremlins, had other resources up his sleeve. Upon arrival and locating the coordinates for CP2, he plotted his route by connecting a mouse (normally used for a computer) to his phone, and his carbon frame as the mouse pad. Excellent ingenuity. If anyone can capture photographic evidence of this, please send it our way.

The biggest mechanical of the day so far has been claimed by Thomas Jacquelinet. Starting very strong and leading the race up until lunchtime, his journey came to an abrupt end west of Annecy. Photo evidence shows a severe derailleur disconnection that took the hanger with it. Please take a moment of silence for Thomas’s carbon frame (look away if you are a sensitive soul):

![IMG 2325](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/46IrajRwYCUBkLE7VB45G9/f0fc98a2340db66bb53b87a84beccf52/IMG_2325.PNG)

The good news is he scratched near Annecy and that is a beautiful place to scratch, and he is safe and sound. Thomas dropped us a note to say that sourcing a new derailleur would be difficult in the remaining time before things close so he is going to make his way back to Lyon Monday by other means. Bad luck Thomas - enjoy a dip in the lake and some Easter chocolate in commiseration.

In the pairs’ field, things have been progressing well. The swiss pair Linda Farczadi  and Philippe Bechét were the first to CP1 with Philippe arriving a little before Linda and had a bit of extra time to start the route planning for the next stage. Good use of the pair advantage allowing Linda to keep energy high and Philippe to get a jump on the admin.

Raphael Albrecht didn’t leave with the mass start this morning as Jakob Kopecky was 10 minutes late to the start. Despite the tardy start the pair have been travelling well  and currently are second pair 50km behind Linda and Philippe.

As we discussed in the Race preview, preparation over planning was key. Gary Short is one of the riders that has not only excelled in preparation, but also spec'd his bike with multi-use accessories. It seems that the aero-bars as a pizza tray is very out of fashion, but luckily the new (smaller) sized snickers fit perfectly in between.

![Snickers aero bars](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/49GIaKhMJmeR7WZjl4E2X/603785d25d3499efc7b7c0a6f4129745/IMG_2331.PNG)

###Scratch report

Thomas is the only scratchee as we publish, starting out #scratchcount at 1 as we curl up for the night.

Most of the riders have reached CP1 as we published, some attacking directly from the west and some looping around to the east. The CP2 has not been displayed on FMC yet, so we won’t say where it is until the organisers do. We can all see that south bound routing is happening, but how close to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean will it go?

We will check back in tomorrow to see how sleep, the cool weather and last potential day of re supply effect the choices in the field. Fingers crossed the mechanical gremlins are now headed off on their long weekend.

Until tomorrow!

(header image from Unknown Race)


Day 2 and the action has been continuing. Night time strategies are divisive, and even more so in a ‘shorter’ race like this. 

Only a few braved the cold temps through the night and kept moving, one of which is the leading rider Paul Niehoff. Deciding to not sleep he made his way, fast, towards CP2, being the first to arrive at 2.33am this morning. He covered the second leg in 12h 55mins, following a route that was also taken by most of the pack. At 1 hour and 27 minutes ahead of Jacob Wassermann he had increased his lead on him by 40 minutes. 

As we publish he has still not slept, maintaining an average moving speed of 23.9km/h (!) and only stopped for 3 hours and 10 minutes since 7am CET yesterday. A man clearly on a mission. He is closing in on CP3 as we type and looks to be in good position to claim 1st place at CP3. 

The leaderboard has had a little bit of a reshuffle today as we say good-bye to Jacob Wassermann. Despite some very speedy pedalling and keeping Paul looking over his shoulder to CP2, a sidewall blow out near Montelimar due to some gravel terrain lead to a 10km walk to try and find a replacement tyre. Unfortunately when he did find a shop it was closed and with Sunday and Easter Monday up next, he has decided to scratch. A good effort in both route planning and riding it was great to watch his dot and we wish him a great recovery over the next 2 days.

At CP2, Sebastian Sarx was next to try and locate the coordinates of the final checkpoint. CP2 is the Col de Perty in the Drome region. It is close to the famous Mont Ventoux, and has great views - which none of the leaders would have had a chance to see. It is also at 1302m altitude and has patchy phone network as Sebastien found out and had to rely on Google maps to get on his way. It doesn’t seem to have impacted him too much as he is well on his way towards Clermont-Ferrand behind Paul Niehoff.

The glacial temps that have descended on the region have been felt by all the riders last night. Joel Karolin had decided to stop for a 20mins nap during the night but stil reached CP2 before sunrise. When there, he noticed a noise coming from his bottom bracket, yet kept going. Unfortunately by 11am he was suffering from lack of sleep and the cold temps he had been pushing through. Not having enough warm clothing with him he chose to scratch as facing another sub-zero night wasn’t an option.

Denise Vorberg found the best shelter available to pass the coldest hours of the night and managed to sleep in someone’s basement and slip away in the morning without them knowing. Next level stealth from this experienced woman.

Jonathan Stuyven is a lover of th classics, and went for the indoor ATM space at the local bank hoping to get a solid 3hour kip and wake up just in time for fresh baked goods at the local boulangerie. Unfortunately the security guard had different ideas and kicked him out of his ‘cyclist holiday inn’ at 4.15am meaning only 1 hour of sleep and no pastries. 

![Cyclist holiday inn ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4u6Iqtc58CuImJ4iUYholp/c0b4a02eda9862931777cf781677915d/IMG_2337.PNG)

Thomas Kovacs however timed his arrival to the local boulangerie this morning perfectly, arriving as the shutters were thrown up by the muscled arms of a french baker. After 400+km of cycling he had earned the right to a few hot pain au chocolats.

A few riders elected for hotels thanks to the winter temps Gary Short was one of these who was hoping to make it to Chambery last night but made it only as far as Annecy before he needed to book into a (very expensive) hotel for the night. He did update his aero bar buffet with a Baguette au saucisson, fixed to his bars with his reflective jacket. Unfortunately on arrival to Grenoble his right knee decided that full rotation was not on the cards, and he has had to scratch. Send Gary some love and a location to Paris-Roubaix in Grenoble to help him enjoy the Easter weekend.

Jan-Willem Bobbink took another strategy and went for the ‘melted cheese and potatoes is always the answer no matter the question'. Heartily full on some good alpine fayre he was set for a second day to keep pedalling towards CP2 which he reached at 1.40pm CET today.

![Alpine fayre](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/52fjsPt83yjH1IgT7OTMle/ba39533bb2c5a78d95fc544754bacdad/IMG_2334.PNG)

During the night Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi took the 1st place woman position, after a short stop during the night and a good tour of the French supermarkets throughout the day. It has been a cold 24 hours for her, but she is well on her way heading north-west toward CP3 in 24th position.

Denise Vorgberg has jumped up to 2nd in the women’s podium after her sneaky night’s adventures, and Claudia is now in 3rd place after checking in to CP2 at 1.17pm CET today, 27 minutes after Denise. The second cold night will be another interesting one as the women are all currently ploughing on towards CP3.

Yesterday saw us honouring David Garaci as the fastest re-router of the day, wish was technically true. The problem was that he rerouted to the wrong location and ended up having to do a significant detour to get to CP2 and only arrived at sunrise. At least he could enjoy the great views as a consolation prize. A little more conscientious with his planning to CP3 he has been able to catch-up with the leading pack.

In the pairs field, the leaders decided to try and push through the night, until Linda saw her partner slaloming on the road in front of her and forced him to take a Power Nap. It seems he was seeing snakes on his way to CP2. Another good reason to ride in pairs if you can mis-time your sleep deprivation hallucinations.

Anatole Naimi has been having a rough time with his tyres. After the very long double puncture repair yesterday he made the choice of getting a new front tyre in Grenoble to stop any new ones and is now running a slim 25mm up front. He has also had a crash during the day and is complaining of hip pain but is pushing on and holding a top 10 position.

Route choices on the CP1-CP2 leg have been very consistent between riders, all but for Kurt VerHeyden. Seeing something that others didn’t, he took a dog leg up to join the main Rhône valley route south towards Valence. Flat and fast it most definitely is - as to whether it has helped him reach CP2 faster than his fellow riders we will find out soon.

###Scratch report
It has been a day of scratches. We have already mentioned Jacob Wassermann, and Joel Karolin, as well as Gary Short. In addition, Guilhem Athiel, Ulrich Rosner, and Jean Guiheneuf have joined the scratch ranks taking the #scratchcount to 7.

There was also another disqualification for non respect of traffic laws, and so Maxime Chagneau is now out of the race.

With the unknown nature of the race, it was difficult to plan for such cold temps at high altitudes which seems to be the biggest factor in stringing out the pack. The leaders are looking to reach CP3 soon, with a chance of finsihing before the end of day tomorrow, if they can keep the pace on no sleep. Tomorrow is also Sunday which means less resupply. How riders will manage this, we will see.

With 2 days to go and most riders firmly through or on their way to CP2, we could see a high number at the finishers’ party on Monday. 

Back with an update tomorrow!


At 3.50pm CET today Sebastian Sarx reached the highest point on the Department 113 road, west of Lyon and claims the first finisher title at the inaugural Unknown Race!

After another cold night racing through the Massif Central, Sebastian was the second to reach CP3 at 2.33am having left CP2 21 hours and 46 minutes earlier.

He had been hunting down Julien Roissard until 6am this morning as he cut through Clermont Ferrand, and then took a south-easterly course to reach the start of the parcours as directly as possible. Betting on his climbing legs to keep him going, while Julien took the longer but flatter route to the north, he nudged past into first place and didn't look back.  

With only 4 hours and 22 minutes of stopping since leaving the Cafe du cycliste at 7am CET Friday morning, he can now enjoy the roll back into town and celebrate his finisher time of 2D 8h 50m

Congratulations Sebastian! An incredible ride of 1163km (estimated) enduring freezing temperatures, varied terrains and consuming numerous French pastries. We look forward to hearing more from his ride and with real distance and elevation numbers over the beers later today!

Julien Roissard is set to reach the FIN sticker soon in 2nd place, with David Geraci not too far behind. Anatole Naimi has not given up despite his set-backs and is chasing hard, while the race's previous leader Paul Niehoff has continued riding and fought his way back up to a top10 spot after a bad case of vomiting yesterday due to bad water and a 10 hour stop through the night.

We will be back tonight to do a bigger look at the rest of the field and hopefully with some updates on the first finisher’s experince! 


After the swift arrival of Sebastian Sarx this afternoon, the podium chasers were pushing hard on the pedals. As reported Julien Roissard was second to reach the FIN stamp at 5.57pm CET only 1hour 47 mins after 1st place. An incredible ride by Julien to keep pace and work his way up the rankings from 9th place at CP 1 to finish 2nd in the GC. Congratulations Julien!!

The organisers had a couple of hours gap until the 3rd placed finisher rolled up to the end point, and David Geraci was well deserved in taking the last step on the podium. After some routing errors to the wrong location of CP2, he had to battle harder to stay at the front of the pack and has the finisher with the slowest recorded stopping time since the start of the race. Congratulations David on a finatastic finish and also on the honoury prize of fastest re-router east of Lyon.

The battle for 3rd place was the strongest of all the podium spots with Anatole Naimi edging closer to the finish line, hot on the heals of David. Anatole put his money on taking the shorter and most direct route from CP3 to the start of the finish parcours by heading due east to Issoire, and then over a few rows of mountains. A gamble that almost paid off as we watched his dot edge further east while Davis’s dot was tracking further north on the main road east of Clermont Ferrand. 

Anatole was only just behind David as they almost met north of Saint-Just-Saint-Rembert, and kept up the chase until the end. An incredible ride by Anatole who was resilient to the end, overcoming significant tyre issues and crash impact, to arrive only 6 minutes after David at the FIN. At publishing he holds the title of last finisher.

Congratualtions to all current finishers on spectacular routes and rides!

In the women’s field, Hanna Ghazi-Idrissi is currently sitting in 15th place in GC, and has passed through CP3 earlier today in daylight. She has lost all sense of time and is functioning on ultra-time. Her fuelling straetgy has been solid since the start and today saw her finding the ultra-cyclists’s fine dining section at the Golden Arches and dropped 25 euros on dinnner. That is a cyclist sized order at McDondalds.

She has a stopping time of 15 hours since the start, but the stopping and fuelling strategies seem to be serving her well with an average moving speed of 21.5km/h (for comparison Julien Roissard finished with an average moving speed of 21.6 km/h). 

Claudia Decker is in 17th place GC and 2nd women’s, only a short distance behind Hannah, and is  heading towards Clermont Ferrand as we type. She is moving marginally slower than Hannah, and has stopped for 2 more hours, but that means bnothing with only one night to go. The battle for the women’s top places is going to be a strong one over the next 24 hours.

The leading Pair Linda Farczadi and Philippe Bechet have been runnig a military-level of rigueur, it seems. Currently a few kilometres out from the start of the finish parcours they are just behind the 9th position rider overall. Clearly a duo that work well together, they have again shown that riding as a pair, when done well, really has its advantages. They are a team that looks to be able to function on limited sleep (except the snakes hallucinations moment) so we may see them push through until the finish tonight.

Despite the compact nature of the race, and the intimate number of riders, it has had its fair share of events already. The mechanicals have continued throughout the day with Thierry Mollard breaking a spoke on his way to CP3. Concerned about the descent his hope was to find a magic wheel fairy at the top to replace this rear wheel and help him get to the finish. Fingers crossed he can find a silution to be able to join the other finishers before tomorrow night.

Good news for Jesko van Werthern, he was able to get his gears fixed and has regained full use of all of them. Determined to make the finish he has carried on and we will all be sending virtual tail winds for him to reach the party tomorrow.

Food supply has lead to some creative choices today as Sunday is hard to find open shops in France. Simon warmed my heart (and his aero bars) when I saw he had found a pizza late last night and was using his Aeros bars for what they are made:

![Pizza aero bars](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4C9eX9mIjhazIJHIdkEhHg/ec0fc1e8997b378bb1ad5889de734086/IMG_2362.PNG)

The pizza was obvisouly consumed rapidly and photos shared by him show only the consumption of pre-packaged waffles today. Maybe he is trying to gain favouritism with the Belgian organisers…?

Jan-Willem bought all the candy available leaving none for any locals on Easter Sunday:

![All the candy](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/78sZuAaGZZvxnJJ7Vy4ktj/f9b3f675c76e970890c32d1ada6cfa4e/1d5f93cf-5d80-449e-ba19-6c6bfa8180ec.jpg)

###Scratch report 

Unfortunately it has been the cold temps that have been the breaking point for many today. Easter weekend is never guaranteed good weather and especially not up high. The Massif Central raises to a lower altitude than the alps but is known for its cold temps. Last night saw sub zero readings on the thermometers again and with lots of hills to climb and descend before reaching the CheckPoint.

Today we celebrate the following rider who are our new scratchees added to the list:
Pierre Gouyou Beauchamps
Thomas Ettema
Denise VOrberg
Étienne Poeyou
Patrick Doupe
Nicholas Müller
Joost Hess
Guilhem Athiel

With 8 new riders added to the scratch list we have a new #scratchcount of 15 - almost a quater of the starter list. Although a first edition, the race has shown that it takes a lot to make it to the end.

Tomorrow sees us head into the final day of the race, with cold beers ready to be popped at 6pm CET tomorrow night. Temps are being consistent with the previous days and it is a national holiday again so resupply may be not be easy. 

A small collection of riders are very close the FIN on the parcours and will probably collect their finishing time before midnight. Behind them there is a string of riders who have just left CP3 and all others spread out on their way form CP2. 

How many will try to push through to dawn and the promise of gas station coffee to try and finsh as soon as possible? And how many will keep the party pace going to arrive in time for a drink on Monday night? With so many riders out there, there is still a lot to see and keep us entertained on Easter Monday!

We will be back with the closing report tomorrow and look back on this fantastic 1st edition race!

(Header photo of the podium from Race organisers)


At 6pm CET tonight a group formed in front of the doors of Le Comptoir in Lyon. Amongst the group, there were 20 cyclists who had just successfully navigated a mystery route of over 1000km over many cols, and through many sub zero temps.

As we published late last night only 4 adventurous riders had reached the FIN sticker on the parcours. Jair Hoogland and Mathias Blockelet were the last 2 riders to squeeze in a finishing time before midnight last night to arrive in 5th and 6th place (respectively) after 11pm.

Between 1am and 2am this morning the final parcours was on full rush hour mode. Kilian Wagner, Nils Kamminga and Paul Niehoff triggered the time stamp and collected 7th, 8th and 9th position.

The next riders to reach the FIN were the first pair at 3.30am. Having pushed through the night (we are still awaiting confirmation on any hallucinations) the duo collected the top step of the Pairs podium, exhausted but happy. They are also the only pair to have finished.

10th place solo position was claimed by Johnathan Stuyven at the same time, making 3 riders happy, cold and exhausted on the top of the departmental road. This was Jonathan’s first ever ultra and we can say he definitely excelled to finish in the top 10 amidst the challenging conditions and the unique new format.

Joep van Luijt, was the last rider to make it to the end before daylight preferring to keep moving through another cold night than bed down, ticking off his race at 4.56am.

The riders gracefully gave the organisers a break until lunchtime when we saw a flurry of riders enjoy the relief of finishing. Below are the riders that came into today in finishing order:

- Fabian Würm (who quickly found a tasty beer called la bestiale in tribute to the race)
- Maximilian Siering
- Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi - first woman to finish in 78h and 23 mins covering 1256km (estimated by FMC)
- Valentin Ogrzewalla - a quiet rider who was plugging away at a more direct route accumulating only 1139km (estimated FMC)
- Martjin van Loon - a keen supplier of photos to the community that we are very grateful for in addition to finishing this hard race.
- Raphael Ottiger - another quiet one (they are always the ones to keep an eye on) that showed a direct route can also be a fast route covering 1155km
- Jan-Willem Bobbink 18th finisher
- Jesko Von Werthern 19th finisher who overcame the terrible gear problems and long wait in Aix-Les-Bain to be able to use all the cogs on his bike
- Simon Gwiggner took the 20th solo place
- Claudia Decker - 2nd woman and estimated 21st overall (Tomas Kovacs shows as 21st but is missing a time stamp for CP3 so we will wait for the organisers to confirm)
- Ruben Montero was 23rd to the end point after 83h and 44mins
- Joseph Eustace a clean 84 hours out on the route
- And finally Gaspar Rodriguez who is the last rider to have reached the end point today at 9.01pm CET.

First posts on strava from some of the riders have shown elevation gain of between 15,000m and 17,000m+ for their routes. With many riders covering over 1200km (longer than expected by the organisers) there was a lot of deliberate thinking on how to remove as much elevation as possible, knowing that getting to the checkpoints was going to require some significant climbing before the final check-in.

A special recognition goes to Kurt VerHeyden who tried to optimise his route to a maximum and visit all valley floors on his way around the route - some even more than once! Having covered 1186km before reaching CP2 he had to admit defeat today and scratch knowing he wouldn’t make the finisher party without some train assistance.

Race organisers are known for their sense of humour and leaving a little sting on the tail of the race. This trio are no different. If you wondered what was waiting the riders on the final parcours Joost Hess captured some of the rough stuff for our pleasure:

![Rough stuff](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1qOVy1DQapnej7p0HUqGyl/f71e2160deb0434e433dbcc9884bd35a/IMG_2378.PNG)

The lack of sleep has affected a few of the riders leading to a new conspiracy theory. The resemblance of the route shape to that of Sicily where the race idea came to life has been discussed at length by the riders. Maybe a clue for next year's edition for any of you inspired to throw yourself into the Unknown world of Ultra-cycling...

![Sicily????](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3RDRU0ytEzCGpqOGwGnLJd/07290cb5a4ebbb9110e353fae67ffc94/IMG_2379.PNG)

Scratch report 
Many riders kept going until the final day today and should be commended for their perseverance, However with the many kilometres ridden in the 3 previous days, and many hours of cold temperatures endured, a flock of cyclists are added to today’s scratch report:

- Alex Lopez
- Urs Mannhart
- Wouter van der Hallen
- Most Hess
- Kurt Van Hayden
- Jerome Frey
- Ralph Cullen
- Flint Clarke
- Matthew CLarke
- GIna Monson
- Nicklaus Taffner

Making our total scratch count 25 at close of play today.

The inaugural Unknown Race was exactly what it promised to be and more. Riders came from all corners of Europe to see what a blind race would be like and they all left with a little extra known about themselves, their fellow riders, and helped out a charity at the same time.

So which charity has benefited from a bunch of cyclists racing around France? Sea Watch is the chosen charity from Sebatian Sarx that will receive the donation.

Congratulations to all riders that started, brought us great dotwathcing shows along the route and to those that finished at the end or before with a galliant scratch.

Where will the 2nd edition be? And what new unknowns will be designed? One thing is known - this race concept is not going away..


Wendy Ellis

The Unknown Race 2023 Tracking and Commentary: This inaugural race around Lyon is a free-route that's adopted an unusual format: the first CP will only be revealed one hour before the start and the second CP at CP1. Into the unknown these trusting souls go!

The Unknown Race 2023 Tracking

This inaugural race around Lyon is a free-route that's adopted an unusual format: the first CP will only be revealed one hour before the start and the second CP at CP1. Into the unknown these trusting souls go!

The Unknown Race 2023

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The Unknown Race 2023

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