French cyclist to ride 19,000 km to Vietnam in mountain challenge

Bastien Rebotton, a 29-year-old from France's southeastern Savoie region, has begun an ambitious cycling expedition to Vietnam, starting on July 6. Rather than taking the shortest route, he has set himself a unique challenge: conquering the highest road pass in every country he crosses before continuing to Vietnam. Rebotton plans to overcome 14 mountain passes rising above 2,000 meters before reaching the iconic O Quy Ho Pass in Vietnam's northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on September 24. He then intends to spend about a month exploring the Southeast Asian country. For him, the journey is the fulfillment of a long-held dream and an opportunity to test his limits. His first challenge will be the 2,764-meter-high Iseran Pass in the French Alps. The highest point of the journey will come later at Haizi Shan Pass in China's Sichuan Province, which stands at 4,685 meters above sea level. Rebotton deliberately chose mountain roads not only to make the journey more demanding but also because they offer some of the world's most spectacular scenery. An experienced long-distance cyclist, Rebotton has already completed several self-supported cycling trips across Europe. However, this expedition was inspired by a life-changing accident about a year ago, when he was hit by a car. The incident reminded him that life can change in an instant, prompting him to stop postponing the adventure he had always wanted to undertake. He expects to ride around 200 km each day, viewing the trip as both a physical challenge and an opportunity to test his own limits. Yet his ambitions go beyond sport. Instead of camping every night, Rebotton hopes to stay with local families whenever possible. He enjoys learning about local customs and plans to ask people he meets to teach him a traditional saying or expression unique to their region, believing such phrases reveal the true character of a place. To document the journey, he will carry cameras and post real-time updates on his personal website. His route will take him through bustling cities such as Istanbul and across the vast grasslands of Mongolia, exposing him to diverse landscapes and climates. To avoid travelling through Russia or Iran, he will take a one-hour flight across the Caspian Sea before continuing his journey by bicycle. Rebotton said the biggest challenge in planning the expedition was not the distance or the altitude, but finding border crossings that allow cyclists to pass. As a result, his original 17,000-km route had to be extended to 19,000 km, including an additional 1,000 km detour through Mongolia.