Lael Wilcox stopped her Around the World cycling record attempt in Fontainebleau on Sunday after becoming sick from heat exhaustion in France. She was 14 days into the ride and had covered roughly 3,000 miles.
Fontainebleau ends the bid
The 39-year-old said in a video on her Instagram account that, “It’s kind of a miracle I haven’t just passed out. I’ve never tried so hard.” She also said, “I’m the strongest I think I ever have been, but it’s just not coming together. It’s okay, it’s a bike ride,” before ending the attempt later that day.
Wilcox stopped just south of Paris after days of feeling nauseous while riding through Europe’s second heatwave of the year. Her support team urged her to stop after she became physically sick early on Sunday morning.
Heat dome in Spain
She had set off from Chicago, Illinois, on 7 June and reached Spain earlier in the week, where she described the conditions as a “heat dome”. On Saturday, she posted that it was the “most humbling ride of my life” while using ice socks to deal with the conditions.
Wilcox had entered the attempt as a proven endurance rider. In 2024, she set the women’s record for cycling around the world in 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes, beating Jenny Graham’s previous mark by more than two weeks.
Mark Beaumont’s record
This attempt was aimed at Mark Beaumont’s outright record for circling the globe by bike. Wilcox said, “We tried to do a lot with a little, and we already did do a lot. You know what, I feel fine, it’s not the most devastating thing. This one, I feel, is another climate change lesson and every year I’m having more and more of those.”
She added, “With this, my biggest concern was smoke in the west, and we’re two months away from that. This is day 14? We were expecting a big challenge but not health problems.” Wilcox shaved her head for comfort and efficiency, and she had also carried out wind tunnel testing at Specialized’s Californian headquarters as part of the bid.
The withdrawal ends the outright record attempt at 14 days and roughly 3,000 miles. The question now is whether Wilcox returns to the Around the World route after a ride cut short by heat exhaustion in France.
