After a 2.30am alarm, her first “proper” road ride in the dark, a near collision with a fox, and being unable to tolerate any food or drink as things “got bad, worryingly early”, British hill-climbing queen Illi Gardner was this weekend crowned the first ever winner of the women’s event at the Everesting World Championships.
The three-time British national hill climb champion added the world Everesting crown to her palmares at the first ever edition of the Everesting World Championships, which were held on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. Gardner ascended the required 8,848m of elevation after 277km of riding and eight and a half hours in the saddle, hitting the equivalent height of the world’s highest mountain an hour and a half ahead of Annette Griner in second.
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Jack Burke — the former pro rider from Canada now trying to get teams’ attention by smashing some of the world’s most famous climbs’ Strava KOMs — won the men’s event in 7 hours 30 minutes, 50 minutes clear of Jack Thompson. Gardner’s time would have been fast enough to see her finish third in the men’s event too, that despite the Welsh climbing extraordinaire explaining afterwards that she had “very nearly packed it in” during a bad patch earlier in the ride.
First ever Everesting World Championships women’s podium (credit: Everesting)
“What a day,” she wrote on Strava afterwards, explaining how her alarm had gone off at 2.30am and it was her “first proper road ride in the dark”.
2025 Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)
“It was up and down a volcano!” she continued. “Chilly descent with a near fox collision. Second rep was quite special with a beautiful sunrise. Then it got bad, worryingly early, when the sun came out in force and I went through a couple hours of really struggling to tolerate any food or drink. Very nearly packed it in but seeing everyone else in the event was a huge motivator and the seemingly unavoidable ‘bad patch’ sort of passed.
Illi Gardner wins first ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)
“Everything hurts… my longest ride ever by 100km. Thank you Everesting for hosting such an epic event — and what a venue for it.”
>Â Can you do an Everesting on no training? Trying to ride 8,848m of elevation in one day
Riders ascended and descended reps of the iconic Sicilian volcano from the start town in Linguaglossa, seven ascents of the 18.8km climb averaging close to seven per cent required to hit the all-important 8,848m. As it happens, Gardner’s Strava activity says she did 8,967m. Better to be safe than sorry.
First ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)
More than 100 cyclists from 16 nations took part in the first ever running of the Everesting World Championships. Its organisers said the event “marks a new chapter for the Everesting movement, which has grown from a grassroots endurance challenge into a global phenomenon embraced by thousands of athletes around the world”.
Men’s world champion Burke spent several years riding at UCI Continental level, his career disrupted by a positive doping test which was later overturned and a collision with a driver while training which saw him sustain a broken back and bleeding on his brain.
First ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)
Last year, Burke made headlines for trying to attract pro teams’ attention by smashing the Strava KOMs on many of Europe’s most iconic climbs.Â
Along with the Mortirolo, Burke also set new bests on Alpe d’Huez and the Stelvio but has not yet re-signed with a professional team.
First ever Everesting World Championships men’s podium (credit: Everesting)
“It’s an amazing feeling after so many hours on the bike,” he said after winning the inaugural Everesting World Championships. “I really enjoyed it, especially the camaraderie with the other riders as we crossed each other while going up and down Mount Etna.”
The event organisers also gave a shout-out to Bulgarian participant Victor Asenov, a blind athlete who competed on a tandem bike with a guide.
2025 Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)