French endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili is in pre-trial detention in Russia

French endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili was arrested in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, after completing his plan to break the world record for the Eurasian crossing by bike, between Lisbon and Vladivostok. According to Le Monde , Sofiane Sehili is currently in pre-trial detention, accused of illegally crossing the border.

On September 2, the Frenchman, who left Lisbon on July ¹ , claimed on his Instagram account that he was blocked at the Sino-Russian border by customs officials after having tried to enter Russian territory twice, via two borders 200 kilometers apart.

According to his posted videos, he had passed through Tajikistan, Mongolia and then China, where he seemed to put his journey on hold. "Failing so close to the goal is heartbreaking. Now I have ten months to decide if I want to go for this record again... or if it will remain a failure forever," he commented.

Now 44, Sofiane Sehili left his career as a documentalist in 2012 to pursue endurance cycling. Since then, he has competed in around twenty major races, winning 11 of them, starting with the prestigious Tour Divide, a 4,500 km race from Canada to the Mexican border, in 2022.

According to our information, the French consulate is mobilizing to provide assistance.