told a cycling news site<\/a> that \u201cthe route I\u2019ll be following is, for now, the only one that\u2019s truly possible.\u201d However, he admitted that \u201ceverything can change depending on how the situation evolves in certain countries.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7823-557x700.jpeg\")
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Liechti\u2019s route. Map:\u00a0Adrien Liechti<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe crossing of West Africa follows a classic itinerary for bicycle travelers,\u201d he explained. He added that \u201cpassing through Algeria is rarer, but doable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liechti also carefully planned his timing. \u201cI\u2019m leaving at the beginning of January to avoid extreme heat in the Sahara and to benefit from a shorter rainy season further on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll also avoid certain areas, such as parts of southern and northern Nigeria, which are controlled by armed groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
The northwestern coast<\/p>\n
Liechti made fast progress through Algeria, where he was even given a police escort along parts of the highway, covering 870km in the first 72 hours. By January 9, he had ridden more than 1,200km to the Algerian\u2013Moroccan border.<\/p>\n
![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7826-700x424.jpeg\")
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At the Algerian-Moroccan border. Photo: Adrien Liechti<\/p>\n
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However, he was unable to cross at that point because the land border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed for years due to political tensions between the two countries. As a result, Liechti had to take a boat to Spain and then return to Morocco to reconnect with his route.<\/p>\n
By January 20, Liechti was riding the long desert roads through Western Sahara, helped by strong tailwinds and relatively moderate temperatures. He covered 1,000km in just 60 hours before crossing into Mauritania on January 22.<\/p>\n
![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7827-700x506.jpeg\")
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In the Western Sahara. Photo: Adrien Liechti<\/p>\n
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Detention in Cameroon<\/p>\n
From there, the Swiss rider followed coastal roads, encountering strong winds and occasional sandstorms. He crossed into Senegal around January 24 and entered Guinea a few days later.<\/p>\n
Liechti found the roads in Guinea particularly challenging. At times, he resorted to off-road tracks. By the first week of February, he had covered around 7,500km in 34 days and reached the Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7828-700x599.jpeg\")
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A dirt road in Guinea. Photo: Adrien Liechti<\/p>\n
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By day 38, Liechti arrived in Accra, Ghana, where he was forced to take a rest day while sorting out visa issues. He then continued into southern Nigeria and, on February 19, reached Cameroon. Shortly afterward, his tracker and social media accounts went silent in Yaounde, the capital.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7829-659x700.jpeg\")
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The Nigerian border. Photo: Adrien Liechti<\/p>\n
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A week ago, Liechti wrote on social media: \u201cHere is what I can share for now. I was stopped by the military after filming a bridge considered a sensitive structure, without knowing it was a restricted area. I was then held in detention for about 15 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detention eventually ended, and as of March 13, Liechti is in the Congo. He recently managed a 260km day, which suggests he has lost little of his pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swiss cyclist Adrien Liechti is attempting to cycle nearly 17,000km from Africa\u2019s northernmost point to its southernmost. Unfortunately,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-480022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7824-700x558.jpeg\")
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