Background information
"A race feels like life in fast-forward"
by Michael Restin
The Tour de France is a joke in comparison
5.8.2019
Translation: machine translated
Nicole Reist is an ultracyclist. And by far the best. The 35-year-old from Weisslingen (ZH) has just won the "Race Across France". It took her 5 days, 8 hours and 22 minutes to cover 2600 kilometres and 45,000 metres in altitude. And she is far from finished.
What have you been up to in the last few days? A bit of sport? Maybe even easily cracked the magical 10,000-step brand and looked at your fitness tracker with satisfaction? Or won the Tour de France? Even if you did and your name is Egan Bernal, your daily sporting endeavours seem manageable at best compared to Nicole Reist's achievements. I've been following her journey with incredulous amazement for some time now.
900 kilometres ahead
Ultracycling starts in dimensions that are hard to grasp. The races start at 1000 kilometres non-stop. Nicole Reist is practically unrivalled in the women's race and is also the absolute world leader compared to the men. Only Ralph Diseviscourt from Luxembourg finished ahead of her in the "Race Across France", with the "chasers" around 900 kilometres behind. It doesn't get any better than that. Right? "If the weather had been more favourable, I would probably have been able to achieve an even better time," said Reist at the finish in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage on the French north coast.
Sleepless in the saddle
At the legendary Mont Ventoux, gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour gave her a hard time and in other areas of the Grande Nation there were strong headwinds. This is not only torture for the body, but also mentally. In view of the circumstances, 5 days, 8 hours and 22 minutes for 2600 kilometres and 45,000 metres in altitude is quite a decent time. Even the three sleep breaks of around 45 minutes each that she allowed herself during the race were forgiven due to the circumstances.
Source: Beatrix Arlitzer
Read correctly: Three short breaks over five days, otherwise Nicole Reist was permanently in the saddle. For her, it was probably a kind of mountainous middle-distance race, at least in comparison with another challenge: "In the 'Race Across America', there are 50,000 metres of altitude difference over 5,000 kilometres. In France, there are almost the same number of metres of elevation gain over about half the distance."
On to Austria
Only half the distance? So there's still room for improvement. Nicole Reist has already won the "Race Across America" twice. This season she is setting herself other goals. After crossing France, she first puts her feet up... No, of course not. She is already starting on 12 August at the "Race Around Austria", which is also a tough event with 2200 kilometres and a good 30,000 metres of altitude. The consequence for Nicole Reist: "In the short break in between, I have to train pretty hard so that my body doesn't go into prolonged recovery mode after the race." Well then: let's keep going. Much further.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
Sport
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
Sport
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest