Meet the race

The Tour Divide follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the GDMBR, which was established in 1998 by the Adventure Cycling Association. Now held each June with a select starting field of riders who’ve written a letter of intent to register, it’s a completely self-supported race that refers to itself as an “off-pavement cycling” – a term that has a certain charm to it. Considered one of integral ultra-distance bikepacking races in the world, riders head from Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada along the 2,745 miles / 4,418 km of the Continental Divide down to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. 

• Current record: 13 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes, Mike Hall, 2016 
• Terrain: Mainly dirt and gravel roads
• Hazards: Bears, unpredictable weather conditions, distance fatigue, sporadic resupply points, navigation, sleeplessness. 

Picture courtesy of Nils Laengner

Former bicycle messenger and Shimano Gravel Alliance rider Sofiane Sehili lives in the flatlands of Paris, but he’s ridden his bike in extreme environments all over the world. 2022 marks his third appearance at the Tour Divide. He’s the first to admit that his experience in 2016 was ‘miserable’, and by the sounds of it the pressure to perform in 2019 produced a similar outcome, with constant clock-watching and fear of the competition. For 2022, he’s got a clear objective: close his long chapter with the Tour Divide by winning it outright.

Picture courtesy of Ryan Le Garrec

Then there’s fellow Shimano Gravel Alliance rider Josh Ibbett, who has had a busy season so far. The former mountain biker from the UK started with back-to-back races in Rwanda, before rolling into a long period of dedicated Tour Divide training, featuring the Dirty Reiver, the Badger Divide from Inverness to Glasgow, and most recently a stage race in Belgium. On top of his off-road pedigree, Josh is turning up to the Tour Divide with the intention of clearing up some unfinished business. The winner of the Transcontinental in 2015, he first raced the Tour Divide in 2019 but came away unsatisfied as he finished a few days off his target race pace. Since the pandemic, he’s had all sights on the comeback and now he’s just hoping that the forest fires in New Mexico won’t lead to a compromised race route, and therefore a missed opportunity to setting a new Tour Divide record. 

Image courtesy of Sofiane Sehili

Why are you riding the Tour Divide?

Sofiane: When I first got into bikepacking as a competitive sport six years ago, there were so few races that I ended up developing an obsession with winning the Tour Divide. My third place in 2016 confirmed the ambition was well placed, I now need to actualise that goal and close the chapter. It sometimes feels a bit silly because I have proved my endurance through other races but I’m keeping to my word. As this year’s edition edges closer, I’ve realised how much I like the route. It’s impossible to love the whole distance but for the most part it’s an amazing ride. When I manage to detach myself from all the anticipation and nerves that come with racing, I think of the places I’m going to see and the riding I’ll do and it makes me really excited.

Image courtesy of Josh Ibbett

Josh: This is my second time riding the Divide. I didn’t make the best debut in 2019 but I learned a lot from the experience – especially about the need to avoid being jet-lagged at the start. I rode it in 16 days 16 hours, and I can see exactly where there was time I could’ve saved. I’m going back to hopefully do the time I think I’m capable of riding, which hopefully will be fairly fast in the grand scheme of things. 

What did you learn from your previous attempts?

Sofiane: I learned how unpredictable the Tour Divide really is. The weather can be absolutely crazy. It can be going really well… until it isn’t. Back in 2016, we had almost perfect weather conditions, and then hellish conditions in 2019 with the mud and snow storms. It  can be smooth or really, really tough. In terms of strategy, I remember thinking I had a good overview after having bike-toured the route in 2014 so I could skip the research before 2016’s race. But you learn how different it is at race pace: since I was riding much longer hours, there were a lot of resupplies that I was passing in the night that were closed. When you’re racing and you reach a resupply that’s closed, you’re not going to wait until it opens.I plan on replicating the scenario in 2019 of riding through the first time – mainly fuelled on adrenaline.

I feel less of a need these days to open up a big gap on the competition – being in the lead helps me to feel mentally in a good place and enjoy it, so while I aspire to take the lead early, it’s not like three years ago when I felt like I really needed to have several hours ahead of the pack. This time around I have a clear map in my head of where I can stop and sleep, especially where I can sleep indoors, which is valuable in such a tough race. I never get good enough sleep outdoors to truly recover. 

Image courtesy of Sofiane Sehili

Josh:  I flew out far too close to the start of the race last time, with just two days before the race started. It’s a tough one in terms of jetlag – I hadn’t adjusted to the right time zone and when you’re tired you make silly decisions, like getting in the habit of stopping early if you see a hotel at nine pm rather than pushing on until midnight or one, which I’d usually do. I was quite intimidated by the experience last time. There’s a lot of hype around the Tour Divide and I got swept up by it, but in reality it’s not that difficult if you break it down into 100-mile sections. Sure, there might be long climbs and bad weather but it’s relatively straightforward. This time around I know what each section is like, where the resupplies are, where I can get away without stopping, and where I need to stop, so hopefully I can have a smoother ride. I’ve also gone for a more substantial sleeping setup and an easier gear at the back to take off the pressure.

Image courtesy of Josh Ibbett

Have you changed personally since your last attempt at the Tour Divide?

 Sofiane: I don’t think I have to prove anything now. I won some major races after the Tour Divide in 2019 so that’s taken some pressure away. I’m also confident having done other, tougher races since then, like the Inca Divide, the Atlas Mountain Race and the Silk Road Race, which was brutal. The Tour Divide won’t be easy but it’ll be comparatively easier than Atlas or Silk Road, so I’m probably not as nervous as I would have been three years ago. I’m also more used to long hike-a-bikes these days, having done a six-hour one in the Atlas. The thing with the Tour Divide is the length and staying focused for two weeks. While I’ve changed the way I approach races in recent years, I still plan on keeping that promise I made to myself of going there one day and winning.

Image courtesy of Sofiane Sehili

Josh:  There’s been a lot of changes, with the main one being that I’m now training full-time. While the world has changed through the pandemic, I’ve got the sense of being more grateful that I can go and do these things. I’m probably better at putting less pressure on myself to get a result and more focused on enjoying the ride, so hopefully the results come too. In the gap since 2019’s Tour Divide, I did the GBDURO fully self-supported and that’s a pretty tough route – I’d say it’s probably tougher mile-for-mile than the Tour Divide.

Image courtesy of Sofiane Sehili

Can you give Gravel Union three predictions for the 2022 Tour Divide?

Sofiane: I think both Josh and I will be on the podium. The order remains to be seen. I think it’s going to be quite fast, something like sub-15. Then there’ll always be someone unknown who manages to put on a show and climb on the podium.

Image courtesy of Josh Ibbett

Josh: Sofiane won’t sleep very much for the first few days; that’s almost a given. You can predict it’ll be unpredictable. Is there going to be snow on the mountains? Is it going to rain? Is it going to be muddy or baking hot? Who knows. For my final prediction: it’s going to be amazing. The Tour Divide gets under your skin; that’s why we’re going.

Bonus question for Josh, is the finish line really that underwhelming?

It depends on your perspective. From outside, I guess so. It’s a gate in the middle of the desert with no one there but when you get there, having ridden there alone, it’s really special and pretty unique. If you are expecting a big crowd cheering for you, you’d be disappointed but if you’re pleased to arrive knowing what it entailed to get there, then it’s pretty unbeatable.