{"id":153098,"date":"2025-09-22T12:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/153098\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:36:08","slug":"everything-hurts-illi-gardner-crowned-first-ever-everesting-world-champion-despite-very-nearly-packing-it-in-after-near-collision-with-fox-and-nutrition-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/153098\/","title":{"rendered":"“Everything hurts!”: Illi Gardner crowned first ever Everesting world champion, despite “very nearly packing it in” after near collision with fox and nutrition woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

The three-time British national hill climb champion added the world Everesting<\/a> 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\u00a08,848m 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack Burke \u2014 the former pro\u00a0rider from Canada now trying to get teams’\u00a0attention by smashing some of the world’s most famous climbs’ Strava KOMs\u00a0\u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst ever Everesting World Championships women’s podium (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

“What a day,” she wrote on Strava afterwards, explaining how her alarm had gone off at 2.30am and it was her\u00a0“first proper road ride in the dark”.<\/p>\n

\"20252025 Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

“It was up and\u00a0down 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’\u00a0sort of passed.<\/p>\n

\"IlliIlli Gardner wins first ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

“Everything hurts…\u00a0my longest ride ever by 100km. Thank you Everesting for hosting such an epic event \u2014\u00a0and what a venue for it.”<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Can you do an Everesting on no training? Trying to ride 8,848m of elevation in one day<\/a><\/p>\n

Riders ascended and descended reps of the iconic Sicilian volcano from the start town in\u00a0Linguaglossa, 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.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

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”.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0broken back and\u00a0bleeding on his brain.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst ever Everesting World Championships (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

> “Give this man a contract”: Amateur cyclist Jack Burke tells pro teams “I just want a chance”\u00a0after smashing brutal Mortirolo Strava KOM \u2013 beating Vincenzo Nibali by over a minute \u2013 as he warns “Pogi, I’m coming for your Madone”<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst ever Everesting World Championships men’s podium (credit: Everesting)<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

The event organisers also gave a shout-out to\u00a0Bulgarian participant Victor Asenov, a blind athlete who competed on a tandem bike with a guide.<\/p>\n

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