Next week Omar Di Felice will begin a journey no human has previously attempted. The Italian ultra-endurance cyclist will arrive at Hercules Inlet, in western Antarctica, and begin cycling over the ice towards the south pole. All going well, he will ride for 60 days through almost 2,000km of treacherous terrain, passing the pole and reaching Leverett Glacier in mid-January to complete the first coast-to-coast crossing on a bike.
Cycling in Antarctica is a relatively new phenomenon, made possible by the development of wide-tyred bicycles known as “fatbikes”, which can traverse snowy conditions. The first Antarctic cycling expedition took place in 2003; in the years since, just two men have managed to ride the full distance from Hercules Inlet to the south pole (about 1,250km). No one has yet ridden onwards to complete a coast-to-coast crossing of the continent.
