French ultra-distance rider Sofiane Sehili is set to remain under arrest in eastern Russia after a local court rejected his appeal against charges of an attempted illegal border crossing during his Eurasia World Record bid.
Sehili began his attempt to conquer the Eurasia World Record – the fastest person to cycle across both continents in one go – in Portugal on July 8. But having reached the far east of Russia by early September, he was then arrested on charges that could see him in prison for up to two years.
In early October, a court in the eastern region of Primorié rejected his appeal, according to Russian news agencies, and his lawyer will now reportedly take his case to a higher legal authority.
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According to the Russian authorities, Sehili, 44, wanted to use a frontier post to re-enter Russia from China via a frontier that was only crossable by train or bus – a transport option that would have invalidated his record bid in its third and final month.
Sehili was refused permission to cross by the Chinese authorities unless he travelled by train for the minimum possible journey of 20 kilometres between two stations on different sides of the border, according to L'Équipe. So the Frenchman opted to use his bike to reach Russia, first through rough woodland and then riding alongside the railway line to the equivalent Russian customs post. But when he got there, he was arrested.
At the time of his arrest, Sehili had been close to claiming the record for the Eurasian crossing, currently standing at 64 days and two hours and held by Germany's Jonas Deichmann. Sehili had reached a total of 17,600 kilometres when he was stopped by the Russian authorities, an average of 280 kilometres a day. The frontier represented his last major obstacle prior to reaching Vladivostok, just 170 kilometres further on.
Sehili will now remain in prison until at least November 8 while the appeals continue.
