Sofiane has been in the news most recently for being arrested while attempting to break the record for crossing Eurasia by bike. The record stood at just over 64 days. Sofiane was riding from Cabo da Roca, Portugal, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. It\u2019s about 14,300km (8,900 miles), give or take.<\/p>\n
Sofiane was arrested after illegally crossing the Russian border from China through a forest rather than taking the train he was booked on.<\/p>\n
Sofiane told Reuters, \u201cI was on a mission to break a world record and if I had decided to wait another 24 hours to be on that train then breaking the record would have been impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had he made the 20km train journey, his two-month-long attempt would likely have been voided.<\/p>\n
![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-bike-head.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili on bike head on (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of gave up on that dream of breaking the world record somewhere in that forest after crossing the barbed wire,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no path. I was walking in streams, climbing over fallen tree trunks and walking through high razor-sharp grass, and my legs were full of cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n
We first reported on Sofiane\u2019s arrest back in early September<\/a>.\u00a0He was eventually released on 23 October<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n > \u201cThey’re not kidding\u201d: Ultra-endurance cyclist will keep chasing records (but not in Russia) after 50 days in jail for illegal border crossing<\/a><\/p>\n How does he feel about crossing the border now?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a big mistake and, of course, I regret doing it,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to give up so close to the goal after two months of not only riding my bike, but also solving problems. I spent two months finding solutions to numerous complications, being obsessed with forward movement. It\u2019s almost impossible to switch from this state of mind to just giving up in a couple of hours. And this is all the time I had to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Hindsight, huh? In contrast, Sofiane had 51 days to dwell on the results of his decision. That\u2019s how long he was detained before eventually being freed to head home to southwest France.<\/p>\n Our man Ryan Mallon has had the chance to catch up with Sofiane about the whole experience, and you can find out all about it when the podcast is released in a few days. In the meantime, we thought we\u2019d like to find out about his bike. Yes, spec details might seem trivial after such an ordeal, but this is a Bike at Bedtime. It\u2019s what we do here.<\/p>\n Sofiane was riding a Bombtrack Hook EXT Ti<\/a>, Bombtrack being a German brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven though I knew I was going to spend most of my time on tarmac, I opted for a gravel bike as I like their versatility, and they\u2019re also a bit more comfortable than road bikes, especially when they\u2019re made of titanium, a material that is known for filtering microvibrations,\u201d says Sofiane.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you spend anywhere from 12 to 16 hours every day on the saddle, comfort is obviously key. I also knew that in some countries, the paved roads would be in bad shape, or not paved at all for several kilometres, so a gravel bike with relatively wide tyres made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of the tyres, Sofiane was using Rene Herse\u2019s Barlow Pass in a 38mm.<\/p>\n \u201cI run them tubeless,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan of tubeless and have been for close to 10 years now. For such a long journey, you don\u2019t want to struggle with numerous flats, and tubeless offers you peace of mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI was carrying a spare tyre and I also had a plan to fit my bike with new tyres about halfway to Vladivostok, but the parcel I sent from home never made it to Kazakhstan, so I ended up riding the whole thing with just three tyres.\u201d<\/p>\n > Check out our review of the Rene Herse Barlow Pass TC tyre. We liked it.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Sofiane\u2019s bike was fitted with Pro Missile Evo carbon aero bars.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re super comfy, and I literally spent hours using them when I was riding in the endless steppes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cThey were also super useful for the headwinds in Mongolia and China.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a sentence you\u2019ve never read on road.cc before.<\/p>\n Sofiane\u2019s wheels are from British brand Hunt. In this case, they\u2019re Hunt\u2019s 40 Limitless Gravel Adventure wheels<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted wheels that were fast, and with their height and width, they certainly are,\u201d says Sofiane. They\u2019re 40\/41mm deep with a 36\/35mm external width.<\/p>\n \u201cI also wanted wheels that were bombproof without being heavy. A carbon gravel wheelset is the way to achieve that. I\u2019m very happy with these. After 18,000km [11,200 miles], they\u2019re still true and rolling smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to take a wild punt and say that most of us have never ridden from Cabo da Roca to Vladivostok and don\u2019t really have much idea of what would be a suitable drivetrain setup. Sofiane went for a Shimano GRX Di2 groupset \u2013 in other words, electronic and gravel-specific \u2013 with 48\/31-tooth chainrings and an 11-36T cassette.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it offers a wide enough range,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cI\u2019m aware that most people would find the easiest gear not easy enough, but my pedalling style is definitely more oriented towards powering through steep stuff than spinning.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people questioned my choice of electronic shifting for huge distances in countries where there\u2019s no real bike shop, but Shimano Di2 is so reliable I never doubted it. Amazingly, I was able to ride all the way from Lisbon to the China\/Russia border with the same chain and cassette.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, as well as moving himself and the bike, Sofiane had to carry equipment for two months on the road \u2013 but it turns out that wasn\u2019t very much at all.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a very minimalist approach when it comes to packing,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cI don\u2019t know exactly how much I was carrying, but I doubt that it was much more than 5kg.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to document the journey the best I could, so I was carrying two cameras and a drone. But in terms of clothes, I went with the bare minimum. And I was carrying no camping gear at all. I stayed in hotels every night, except for two where I just lay down on the floor for a few hours. These were not pleasant nights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n > Check out the Mason Definition that Josh Ibbett rode to Transcontinental Race victory in 2015\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Yep, we get that. As mentioned up top, Sofiane was released towards the end of October. He\u2019s now at home in France\u2026 and so is his bike.<\/p>\n \u201cI did come home with my bike. I don\u2019t think the border guards were very interested in keeping it. They probably have no idea how much it costs. They kept it in a military facility very close to the border during the 51 days I spent in prison. I got my helmet and my glasses back as well. Plus all the electronics that the police had confiscated: my cameras, my drone, my phone and my Coros DURA [solar GPS bike computer].\u201d<\/p>\n > Read our review of the Coros Dura Solar GPS Bike Computer<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n And has he been back on the bike since getting home? We could imagine he might be dying to get back in the saddle after weeks off it. On the other hand, we could also understand if he didn\u2019t want anything to do with cycling for a while.<\/p>\n \u201cI went for a 50km ride last Tuesday as we had gorgeous weather here in the southwest of France,\u201d says Sofiane. \u201cI thought I would be completely out of shape, but actually things went rather okay. A month or two of training and I\u2019ll be fit again.\u201d<\/p>\n Love it!<\/p>\n Like we said earlier, Ryan has been speaking to Sofiane Sehili for the road.cc podcast. Look out for it in the coming days.<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-bike_0.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili with bike (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-bombtrack_0.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili Bombtrack (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-bombtrack-hunt-wheels-rene-herse-barlow-pass-tyres.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili Bombtrack Hunt wheels Rene Herse Barlow Pass tyres (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-bike-ahead.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili on bike from ahead (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-sofiane-sehili-alongside-bombtrack.jpeg\" "\\"2025")
2025 Sofiane Sehili alongside Bombtrack (credit: Sofiane Sehili)<\/p>\n