Transcontinental Race, the self-supported bicycle race across Europe, has announced the 2022 route as it returns following a two-year absence. On Sunday 24th July 2022, the eighth edition of the Transcontinental will once again start on the fabled cobbles of the Muur van Geraardsbergen in Belgium and finish on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in Burgas.
The team behind the event note that… ‘Transcontinental will make its habitual journey across the European continent in its own unique style: rider against rider, living by their wits alone, without caravan or entourage guided by personal integrity, mutual respect and a collective commitment to equality.
‘At the sharp end it is a beautifully hard bicycle race, simple in design but complex in execution. Factors of self-reliance, logistics, navigation and judgement burden racers’ minds as well as their physiques.
‘The strongest excel and redefine what we think possible, while many experienced riders target only a finish. It’s no coincidence that the most prepared will succeed. The route will see the riders visit four Control Points (CP) spanning over 4000km from each other.’
Control Point One, sponsored by Kinesis, is in Krupka, Czechia (Czech Republic) 800km from the start. The longest parcours on this edition of the race will guide riders through the northern edge of the Ore Mountain range that forms the border between Germany and the Czech Republic.
The riders will have around four days to reach the control location whilst volunteers are present and the control is operational.
Control Point Two (CP2), sponsored by fi’z:ik, is in Passo di Gavia, Italian Alps. The route from the first Control Point will see riders cover some 750km taking on some challenging and dramatic landscapes as they navigate into the heart of the Alps. CP2 will be open for roughly four days.
The race returns to Durmitor National Park in Montenegro for Control Point Three of the race, sponsored by LEM Helmets. Repeating the route from Pluzine to Zabljak that was first featured on the fourth edition of the race in 2016 – riders will navigate the 1150km from CP2 into Eastern Europe. By this point in the race they will have well over 2000km and 20,000m of elevation in their legs.
The final Control Point, sponsored by Hutchinson, will coax riders into Romania’s Parâng mountains, part of the Southern Carpathian sweep of rock that carves across Central and Eastern Europe.
How the riders get from control point to control point is up to them but they must do it unsupported, carrying everything they will need for the trip. Every rider carries a personal GPS satellite tracker, regularly updating their position to Transcontinental’s live map. Additionally, roaming event cars capture and report on the race action with daily race reports, video updates, a podcast and the event’s signature photography.
The route will be officially unveiled on stage at Rouleur Live 2021 at 17:15 on Friday 5th November. Immediately following there will be a talk with Nicky Shaw, Ben Davies and Josh Ibbett, all of whom have completed the race, discussing their experiences and sharing insights.
The seventh edition of the Transcontinental Race was won by 24 year old German doctor, Fiona Kolbinger in August 2019. She travelled over 4000km from Burgas, Bulgaria to the finish line at Brest in Brittany, northwest France, in just 10 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes.
Transcontinental will share the race story in 2022 via the following channels:
- Podcast: audioboom.com/channels/5003904
- Instagram: @thetranscontinental
- Facebook: facebook.com/transconrace
- Youtube: youtube.com/c/TranscontinentalTCR
