A cycling fanatic who had been on his bike for almost 12 months has been brought to a standstill by thieves.
Oren Lotan, from Israel, was in the final stages of his epic challenge when he reached Cambridge. But having managed to avoid any mishaps in his journey, which had incorporated 18 countries and more than 5,000 miles, fate dealt him a brutal hand.
The engineer was staying in a house with friends when he realised his bike had been stolen. And now time is running out for the 37-year-old to locate its whereabouts.
"I went outside, I looked and then I just sat down on the floor because it was like 'Oh, this is bad'," he told ITV. "Both sentimentally, of course - I've been through a lot on this bike from like good experiences, bad experiences, memorable experiences - and also of course because of the practical aspect."
And Mr Loran explained why the logistics of replacing his prized possession were anything but straightforward: "Finding new bikes in this current market is challenging because there's nothing exactly like those bikes I spent a lot of time preparing," he continued.
"It's a bike you spend whole days riding and that's not something you can just hop on and start riding. I don't have a lot of time so there is a bit of despair as I am flying soon and in Cambridge it's very hard without a bicycle."
Mr Lotan, who is due to fly to New Zealand to continue his trek, admitted he was warned about the danger of bike thefts in Cambridgeshire. Indeed, in 13 of the last 15 years the number of bike thefts has exceeded 2,000 in the area.
"It would be a really bad way to end my journey with my bike stolen," he said. "This was a good journey. There were ups and downs obviously.
"You don't spend half a year on the road and everything is sun and roses. There were bad parts but generally it was a good journey and I don't want it to end on this note."
