Wilcox already owns the women\u2019s record<\/a> for the feat at 108.5 days, besting the previous mark by 16 days. That attempt left much room to improve the time: it was done on a relatively mountainous route, with Wilcox carrying her own gear, and riding with supporters along her journey.<\/p>\nHer 2026 route has been optimized for flat terrain, and she has had a full support team, just as Beaumont had for his record-setting ride. All the details were dialed in, but Wilcox hadn\u2019t anticipated extreme heat setting her back to this extent.<\/p>\n
From Chicago to France
\n![\"lael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/240510-Roubaix-5-scaled-e1716861424991.jpg\"\/)
Last time Lael Wilcox rode around the world, she was carrying her own gear as seen here. This time she\u2019s had a support crew. \u00a0(Photo: Rugile Kaladyte)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been nauseous every day and finally threw up in the first hour of my ride this morning\u2014 heat exhaustion got the better of me,\u201d she wrote in an Instagram post. \u201cConcerned for my health & safety, my team asked me to stop my ride. Honestly, I\u2019m amazed I\u2019ve endured the past 14 days. Conditions have been really tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate to quit, but it\u2019s the right choice this time. I just can\u2019t manage race pace in the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
After setting out from her hometown of Chicago on June 7, Wilcox had finished the first leg of her journey across southern Canada and had made it across the Iberian peninsula and more than halfway through France before she was forced to throw in the towel. She had traveled just over 3,000 miles in two weeks.<\/p>\n
For comparison, the Tour de France next month will cover just over 2,000 miles in three weeks.<\/p>\n
Extreme heat hits Europe<\/p>\n
Lael Wilcox had fallen off her 240-mile-per-day average pace amid the heat and had been trying to cool down with rest stops and ice packs, but even a highly trained athlete like herself isn\u2019t immune to extreme heat, especially when her record-setting ride itinerary leaves no leeway for a rest day.<\/p>\n
Extreme heat has been impacting Europe in recent days, and is expected to stick around this week, following her planned route across France, into Belgium, Germany and beyond. Temperatures neared 100 degrees F yesterday in Fontainebleau, France, where she ultimately called off her record attempt. Today, the temperature is forecasted to be even higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one I feel like it\u2019s more of another climate change lesson, which every year I\u2019m having more and more of those, you know,\u201d Wilcox said. \u201cAnd then it\u2019s like with this my biggest concern was smoke in the west (of the U.S.) and it\u2019s like we\u2019re two months away from that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t take enjoyment out of how hard it is; I just try to survive. But each day I think \u2018oh this might be the last day\u2019 and I guess today is the last day. I\u2019ve never had that mentality because there\u2019s always a way to push through, except with smoke. And then it turns out it\u2019s not just smoke; it\u2019s also extreme heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid the disappointment of having to end her journey early, Wilcox maintained her trademark upbeat attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I\u2019m] riding the strongest I think I ever have but it\u2019s just not coming together,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s OK; it\u2019s a bike ride. You know what though, I feel fine. It\u2019s not like the most devastating thing. It\u2019s like you do things, you try.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Wilcox\u2019s plans are to head to Switzerland and then back home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ultra-endurance racer faced another week of extreme temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, after having already endured days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[138632,4985,65144,101,220270,45288,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-655837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-audio-true","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-news","tag-sports","tag-tag-lael-wilcox","tag-type-article","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655837","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=655837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lael](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/lael-wilcox-abandons-around-world-ride.jpg\")
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