Past races

Atlas Mountain Race 2020

Start: Saturday, February 15, 2020 8:00 AM

The inaugural off-road bikepacking race across the Atlas Mountains opens up the season of unsupported ultra-distance cycling for the year.

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Fact file

Location:
Marrakech, Morocco
Length:
1145km
Riders:
192
Terrain:
Off-road

Rich Seipp's Winter HT550 ITT

Start: Sunday, December 1, 2019 9:00 AM

It's Rich vs the clock for what could be the first completion of a winter HT550 ITT.

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Fact file

Location:
Tyndrum, Scotland
Length:
550 miles
Terrain:
Off-road

Two Volcano Sprint

Start: Thursday, November 7, 2019 4:30 AM

The cherry on top of a brilliant year's racing.

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Fact file

Location:
Italy
Length:
1100km
Terrain:
Road

TransIbérica 2019

Start: Sunday, September 1, 2019 8:00 PM

3,500km around the Iberian Peninsula with checkpoints in some of the highest peaks available.

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Fact file

Location:
Bilbao, Spain
Length:
3500km
Riders:
31
Terrain:
Road

Paris-Brest-Paris 2019

Start: Sunday, August 18, 2019 3:00 AM

The four-yearly 1200km randonnée is back for its 19th edition. Originally a race, this brevet is a prestigious event steeped in the history of long-distance cycling.

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Fact file

Location:
Paris, France
Length:
1200km
Riders:
6000
Terrain:
Road

Transcontinental Race 2019

Start: Saturday, July 27, 2019 3:00 AM

The most prestigious race on the calendar returns with four new checkpoints and a route reversal.

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Fact file

Location:
Burgas, Bulgaria
Length:
4000km
Riders:
275
Terrain:
Road

Transpyrenees Ultracycling Race 2019

Start: Saturday, June 29, 2019 8:00 PM

A 950km traverse of the Pyrenees mountains across the French and Spanish border.

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Fact file

Location:
Llança, Spain
Length:
950km
Riders:
75
Terrain:
Road

GBDURO19

Start: Saturday, June 22, 2019 7:00 AM

Land's End to John O'Groats on road, gravel, singletrack and everything in between across four stages.

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Fact file

Location:
Great Britain
Length:
1960km
Riders:
30
Terrain:
All-road

Tour Divide 2019

Start: Friday, June 14, 2019 2:00 PM

Running from Banff in Canada to Antelope Wells on the Mexican border, the Tour Divide is for many the halo event of Bikepack Ultraracing. With both South Bound and North Bound riders racing self-supported across approx. 2,745 miles (4,420km) of the ACA's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, with a few diversions to spice it up. The 2019 edition had perhaps the deepest starting field ever, with prior winners of Tour Divide, TCR, TransAm, Terra Australis and Italy Divide all lining up. This year's race was epic!

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Fact file

Location:
Banff, AB, Canada
Length:
2745 miles
Terrain:
Off-road

TransAtlantic Way 2019

Start: Thursday, June 6, 2019 9:30 AM

The race along the Wild Atlantic Way on the west coast of Ireland returns for 2019.

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Fact file

Location:
Dublin, Ireland
Length:
2500km
Riders:
120
Terrain:
Road

Trans America Bike Race 2019

Start: Sunday, June 2, 2019 12:00 PM

The longest race on the calendar takes riders from one side of the USA to the other.

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Fact file

Location:
Portland, OR
Length:
4200 miles
Riders:
77
Terrain:
Road

Highland Trail 550

Start: Saturday, May 25, 2019 8:00 AM

After riders succumbed to torrential rain within the first two days, the 2019 HT550 had a surprise around every corner of the trail.

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Fact file

Location:
Scotland, UK
Length:
550 miles
Riders:
62
Terrain:
Off-road

Italy Divide

Start: Thursday, April 25, 2019 12:00 PM

1150 unsupported kilometres between Naples and Torbole with a mix of fast rolling gravel roads and technical mountain bike trails.

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Fact file

Location:
Italy
Length:
1150km
Riders:
197
Terrain:
Off-road

Race to the Rock

Start: Friday, August 31, 2018 8:22 PM

Race To The Rock is a 3,500km off-road epic held annually in the wilds of the Australian Outback. Uluru Rock has marked the finish line every year since its 2016 inauguration, but the start line, and route to it, have always been changed - with Tasmania marking the start of the 2018 edition. Dreamt up by the 'chief instigators' of the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, and with Sarah Hammond as the race's only ever victor, the race is anything but a ride for the faint hearted.

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Fact file

Location:
Australia
Length:
3,500km
Riders:
9
2017 Winner:
Sarah Hammond
Terrain:
Off-road

Silk Road Mountain Race

Start: Friday, August 17, 2018 11:00 PM

The first edition of most bikepacking races usually involve a makeshift start and a field of riders selected from the organiser’s closest friends. Not the Silk Road Mountain Race, which has assembled a lineup of veterans and rookies and convinced them to a race a fixed 1,700km route through Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan mountains -- with a wince-inducing 26,000m of climbing thrown in for good measure, too. With only three manned checkpoints, unfamiliar terrain, and scant resources, the race is set to make essential dotwatching.

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Fact file

Location:
Kyrgyzstan
Length:
1,700km
Riders:
94
Terrain:
Mixed

Transcontinental Race

Start: Sunday, July 29, 2018 8:00 PM

First dreamt up and organised by Mike Hall in 2013, the Transcontinental Race has come to be recognised as somewhat of a genre-defining event. Starting in Belgium, and finishing in Greece, with four checkpoints en route that change with every passing year, this 4,000km, self-navigated epic is as arduous as it is adventurous, and therein lies its appeal.

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Fact file

Location:
Europe
Length:
~4,000km
Riders:
~250
Website:
transcontinental.cc
Terrain:
Road

Jenny Graham 'Round-the-World' Record

Start: Friday, June 15, 2018 11:00 PM

On June 16th 2018, Scottish ultra cyclist Jenny Graham set off from Berlin in an attempt to break the women's 'Around-the-World' record. Her 18,000 mile ride will take her across 14 countries and 4 continents. She'll be spending up to 16 hours in the saddle every day to hit her target of 180 miles per day, and beat the record by a projected 34 days. It's an ultra-distance effort that will test her mile after mile; country after country, and we'll be following her for the duration.

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Fact file

Location:
Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America
Length:
18,000 miles
Riders:
Jenny Graham
Record Holder:
Paola Gianotti (144 days)
Terrain:
Road

Tour Divide

Start: Friday, June 8, 2018 6:00 AM

For many people, the Tour Divide is the original bikepacking race. It's an event that has inspired many riders, and laid the foundations for an entire calender of ultra-distance bike races to thrive. Following the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the Tour Divide stretches 4418km from Banff, Canada, to Antelope Wells on the USA-Mexico border. Off-road; self-supported; as fast as possible!

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Fact file

Location:
Canada & USA
Length:
4418km
Riders:
161
Last year’s winner:
Brian Lucido, USA
Terrain:
Off-road

TransAtlantic Way

Start: Thursday, June 7, 2018 10:00 AM

The TransAtlanticWay Race is a 2500 km one stage, self-supported road bike race between Dublin and Cork - via The Wild Atlantic Way. With the pounding swell of the Atlantic as your constant companion, you follow the blue zig-zag signposts through seven of Ireland’s westernmost counties.

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Fact file

Location:
Ireland
Length:
2,500km
Riders:
163
Winner:
Björn Lenhard, GER
Terrain:
Road

Trans Am Bike Race

Start: Saturday, June 2, 2018 7:00 AM

At 6,900km long, the Trans Am Bike Race (TABR) is the longest ultra-distance bike race out there. Traversing the USA from Astoria, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia, the route covers the Rockies, the plains of the Mid-West, and the Appalachians, on its cross-continental path. A true test of stamina, and a calendar highlight for riders and dotwatchers alike.

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Fact file

Location:
USA
Length:
6,900km
Riders:
138
Winners:
Marcel Graber (velomobil),
Terrain:
Road

Italy Divide

Start: Wednesday, April 25, 2018 6:00 PM

The Italy Divide is a 900km unsupported bikepacking race, following a mixture of gravel roads and technical MTB trails through Italy's mountainous interior, from Rome to Lake Garda. The 2018 edition sees 88 riders, and one former winner, take on the challenge.

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Fact file

Location:
Italy
Length:
901km
Riders:
88
Winner:
Nico Valsesia, ITA
Terrain:
Off-road

Calendar

Tour Aotearoa ⇲Feb 17, 2020

Race Around The Netherlands ⇲May 1, 2020

Italy Divide ⇲May 1, 2020

All Points North ⇲May 22, 2020

Highland Trail 550 ⇲May 23, 2020

Badlands ⇲May 24, 2020

Trans Atlantic Way ⇲Jun 4, 2020

B-HARD Ultra Race ⇲Jun 6, 2020

Trans America Bike Race ⇲Jun 7, 2020

Tour Divide ⇲Jun 12, 2020

GBDURO20 ⇲Jun 27, 2020

Transpyrenees ⇲Jun 27, 2020

TransIbérica ⇲Jul 12, 2020

Transcontinental No.8 ⇲Jul 25, 2020

Silk Road Mountain Race ⇲Aug 14, 2020

Two Volcano Sprint ⇲Oct 18, 2020

About

DotWatcher is here to showcase the best of long distance self-supported bike racing. The DotWatcher Digest is a regular roundup of the best content from around the bikepacking webosphere, delivered via an exclusive newsletter.

Contact

If you have a race you would like us to cover or just want to get in touch email us at info@dotwatcher.cc