05 Toughest Bicycle Races in the World – Understand the Challenge

This race takes you across the gruelling terrain of the Pyrenees and Alps. The course starts along the Spanish coastline on the shore of the Mediterranean and winds its way around tough terrain to end in San Sebastian Spain. The course is open to mountain bikers taking them on a journey of 509 miles that cover the total length of the rugged Pyrenees. There is a total of 66,000 plus feet of climbing to endure meaning the winner would generally have spent just over 45 hours in the saddle. Those who arrive later would have spent a much longer time on the bike.

This too is classified as a tough race; the course meanders across 3,000 miles of land, from Oceanside in California to Annapolis in Maryland. The course is in fact a 1000 miles longer that the famous Tour de France. Even the time period to finish the race is much shorter than the 3 week period allocated to the Tour de France. Here the participants are not required to take in a full nights rest with many competitors deciding to survive on just 2 hours of sleep a day. It was recorded that a single rider burns a total of 180,000 calories during the entire course, as such it is a race for food as well as the first place.

This is one that is favoured by the best endurance riders. Gaining respect as one of the toughest mountain races the tour covers the American continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. The race starts and ends on the sandy shores of these two oceans, but it is what's in between that defines the skill levels of each individual rider. The course crossed 5 mountain ranges offering a total of 29,000 feet of climbing. In addition to riding across jungles, gorges and rain forest the riders must also scale the face of a 12,000 foot volcano.

This is where you will find the cream of professional bike racers coveting for the title. The race is a celebrity event with many parties in between the 3 week course. The terrain starts out as flat and climbs the Alps. The Tour is defined by speed records set by the cyclists with an average 25mph being clocked in over a 21 day period that covers a distance of 2,100 miles. These are tough courses that require the best equipment and road tyres offering various durability strengths and tear resistance are most popular. To learn more on the importance of bicycle tyres you can check DSI Tyres and other top manufacturer websites.

This is the most famous mountain biking tour across the world. This is a self-supported race that has no trailer tagging behind the rider. The course crosses a distance of 2,745 miles between Banff Canada and Antelope Wells in New Mexico. There is a vertical 200,000 foot climb that sees many daredevil endurance bikers attempting this tough race.