Gisela Finishes Tour d`Afrique in Second Place following 11,844km and Writes History

Gisela completed the Tour d' Afrique after nearly 12,000km with a very good second place in overall standings (male/female) and first place in the womens category. She is therefore the best and fastest woman who ever took part at such a unique race. After more than 11,844km and a time of 404 hours and 34 minutes on her Rotor Rohloff SPEEDHUB Bike "Gisi" arrived safe and sound in Cape Town.

 

Photos of arrival

In the recent weeks Gisela was able to get closer to the first places in the overall standings and reached an outstanding second place which she able to defend to the finishing line. It is truly extraordinary how Gisela has managed the last 6 months and with what kind of determination she has reached her targets. The employees of the Rohloff AG send their congratulations and wish her good luck and a safe journey home.

Her summary of the race:

"Winning Tour d’Afrique is a tremendous honour, pushing myself harder every day, harder than I ever thought possible.  Some days were extremely difficult and I wondered if I could still get EFI. I came to the Tour d’Afrique knowing that I could do well but I had no idea that I could win.  I loved being able to ride with the men and found each ride more challenging and interesting than the last."


Travel route 12,000km from Cairo to Cape Town to the Soccer WM

 

What is the „Tour d`Afrique:

The „Tour d`Afrique“ is known as the longest and hardest mountain bike race in the world. It crosses the African continent from Cairo in the North to Cape Town in the South and has a length of nearly 12,000 km. For 8 years now the „Tour d`Afrique“ annually attracts many bicycle athletes from all over the world and the media show a growing interest in the event.

 

On the way through ten African countries (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa) the riders view ancient temples as well as the rough biblical landscape of Ethiopia, they ride across desolate deserts and national parks abundantly covered with vegetation and experience a fascinating array of wild life, they ride at the foot of the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro and on to the Victoria waterfalls in Zambia. Altogether the tour takes 120 days, of which 96 are pure cycling days. The daily stages average 125 km each and regardless how the distance is managed - as a race or as an expedition - the Tour d`Afrique is a keen mental and physical challenge for everyone involved. The unique and unforgettable experiences are a wonderful reward for coping with the bad roads and energy zapping conditions.

 

Gisela Gartmair is the first German woman ever who participated in this race. Next to cycling Gisi wants to intensify her support for the charity organization „Hilfe für Kwale District e.V." (www.kwale.org). Her bike and spare parts were all supplied by her sponsors Rotor Bikes and Rohloff AG.

A personal presentation:

Gisela Gartmair was born December 5th 1984. She is a competition enthusiastic bicycle rider from the south of Munich. In January 2009 she has successfully finished her bachelor of arts studies of nutrition and diet counselling at the German University for Prevention and Health. At the moment she is working part time at a lawyer’s office in Munich.

 

Raised in a very sportive and travel enthusiastically family she found out at an early age her passion for the bike sport and foreign countries. After a two weeks private practice in Cape Town, South Africa she noticed the „Tour d`Afrique“ for the first time and she decided, being fascinated from country and people, to take part at this grand race as the 1st German woman ever.

 

Further information can be found under: www.tourdeafrique.com / www.cycling-for-africa.com

 

 

Gisela Gartmair

Gisela Gartmair