Cyclist rides three-gear Boris Bike up ‘snakelike’ Tour de France mountain stage and gets it back to London within 24 hours after 1,400-mile round trip
- Cameron Jeffers started in Blackwall, east London, before driving to Alpe d’Huez
- The 23-year-old from Lancashire hired a bike he dubbed ‘Pierre’ with friend Brian
- They drove to the south of France, cycled up the 8-mile mountain and back down
- The duo raced back to London and completed the task in 23 hours, 33 minutes
A cyclist has hired a Boris Bike, pedalled it up a notorious French mountain and got it back to London within 24 hours.
Cameron Jeffers started in Blackwall, in the east of the capital, driving 680 miles to Alpe d’Huez in the south of France.
The 23-year-old from Preston, Lancashire, was following in the footsteps of Matthew Winstone, Ian Laurie and Robert Holden, who completed a similar task with 22 seconds to spare up Mont Ventoux in 2013.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=isDrfiHHXok%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Cameron Jeffers (pictured) started in Blackwall, in the east of the capital, before heading over to the 8-mile climb at Alpe d’Huez
The 23-year-old (pictured picting up the bike in east London) from Preston, Lancashire, was following in the footsteps of Matthew Winstone, Ian Laurie and Robert Holden, who completed a similar task with 22 seconds to spare up Mont Ventoux in 2013
But Cameron decided to attack Alpe d’Huez after another group of friends failed to beat the iconic Tour de France climb in 2016 after being pulled over by police and facing train delays.
Cameron hired a bike he called ‘Pierre’ at 1.30am from next Naval Row after checking the tire pressure, three gears and brakes.
The cyclist and his friend Brian piled them into the back of a Mercedes people carrier and headed towards the Channel Tunnel to catch a 3.20am crossing.
Cameron and Brian – who had forgotten his helmet – changed into their skin-tight cycling clothes and aimed to make the climb within an hour on the 23kg bike (pictured as they arrive in France)
Using his hand-held camera, Cameron (pictured pulling a wheelie) recorded the pair’s exhausting climb up the slope, with Brian following closely behind
After a nine-hour journey they spotted the Alps through the clouds lingering above a motorway, but noticed a light dusting of snow on the top.
Cameron and Brian – who had forgotten his helmet – changed into their skin-tight cycling clothes and aimed to make the climb within an hour on the 23kg bike.
Stunning drone footage showed the steep, ‘snake-like’ route they had to take to conquer the mountain, which has defeated even elite athletes during the Tour de France.
Using his hand-held camera, Cameron recorded the pair’s exhausting climb up the slope, with Brian following closely behind.
Cameron (pictured with Brian) said: ‘It’s actually harder than I first thought it was going to be. She’s a steep one’
Cameron said: ‘It’s actually harder than I first thought it was going to be. She’s a steep one.’
They crossed the ‘snow line’ and their journey became treacherous as frost surrounded them and snow fell from the freezing air.
Cameron made it to the top, closely followed by Brian, and they lay down in the snow in a desperate bid to cool off.
The duo raced back down the mountain – as they were 25 minutes behind schedule – to return to their car and on to the closing straight.
Cameron made it to the top, closely followed by Brian, and they lied down in the snow (pictured) in a desperate bid to cool off
They headed to the Channel Tunnel as fast as they could and made their train in the nick of time.
With a £300-fine at stake if they returned the Boris Bikes late, they sped out of the tunnel and back to London towards Naval Row.
They docked their bikes back at the Santander stand, having completed the mission in a staggering 23 hours, 33 minutes.
Cameron said: ‘So, to answer the question can you take a Boris bike to the south of France and climb the Alpe d’Huez and back again in under 24 hours, the answer my friends is yes.’
The cyclist hit headlines in October when he was banned from the British eRacing Championships.
The inaugural winner faced the boot for ‘manipulation of pre-race data to gain an unfair advantage via in-game equipment’.
He was given a six-month suspension and was fined £250 for cheating during a race in March.
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