The 5 Toughest Cycling Races On Earth
The most famous cycling race is, of course, the Tour de France, but is it the toughest?
At Pledgesports, we’re huge bike fans and have helped athletes from all bike disciplines raise money through sports crowdfunding.
By looking at races from all kinds of biking, we have created an ultimate list of the 5 toughest cycling races on earth. Brace yourselves…
The Iditarod Invitational
By no means is the world’s longest bike race, but you can bet it’s among the toughest cycling races known to man.
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Measuring 1,110 miles Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, the Iditarod Invitational has no set route, freezing temperatures as low as -56 degrees Fahrenheit, and its competitors maintain an average speed of just 3 miles per hour.
Want tough? You got it. A wrong turn in this race could cost you your life.
The Death Ride
Less intimidatingly known as the Tour of the Californian Alps, one-day bike races don’t come much harder than the Death Ride.
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Totalling 129 miles in length, riders navigate five mountain passes and over 15,000 feet of total ascent. By all means, the view is great from up there, but it’s the searing muscle pain that is ingrained on racers’ minds forever. Easily one of the toughest cycling races on earth.
La Ruta Des Los Conquistadores
Widely known as one of the most feared races of all time, La Ruta is right at home on the list of toughest cycling races.
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Competitors traverse 29,000 feet of climbing as they race across from one coast of Costa Rica to the other. The track crosses five mountain ranges, jungle, rain forest and a 12,000-foot volcano during a three-day race. This is for the toughest riders, but only if they dare.
Bring some spare chains and bicycle cranks for this one!
Race Across America
With a starting line in Oceanside, California, teams and individual cyclists race 3,000 miles to Annapolis, Maryland in what is most definitely one of the toughest cycling races on offer.
They climb 170,000 feet along the way, one of the most strenuous altitude changes of any bike race. The winners usually average about 22 hours a day on their bikes, clocking about 250-300 miles in that period in order to complete the race under its 12-day limit.
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Tour de France
The list of toughest cycling races wouldn’t be complete without the famous Tour, mainly because of its incredible speed. For over 2,100miles and 21 days, Tour riders must maintain an average daily speed of 25 miles per hour if they are to just complete the race, never mind compete in it.
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Riders beware, the physical intensity of the race constantly puts an athlete’s body on the brink of lactate threshold, making them endure a world of pain mile-after-mile. One lapse in concentration and your race is finished.
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