My ultra appetiser before an ultra? A triple Everesting

CW meets Ana Orenz, the amazing ultra racer who earlier this year set two epic climbing records – all in the name of ‘efficient training’

(Daniel Gould)

“I didn’t have much time to prepare,” says Ana Orenz, describing her spur-of-the-moment decision to attempt the record for greatest vertical ascent by bicycle in 48 hours. “I have a daughter – I’m a single mum – and we were building a new life in Spain, so I had to be very spontaneous for this one.”

The 39-year-old wasn’t targeting the women’s record, but the outright – 29,623 metres, set by American Craig Cannon in 2015 (since broken by UK rider Alan Colville). No woman had ever attempted it, so Orenz was going to make history whatever the outcome, with the one minor proviso that she would have to keep climbing and descending for two days non-stop.

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David Bradford
Features editor

David Bradford is features editor of Cycling Weekly (print edition). He has been writing and editing professionally for more than 15 years, and has published work in national newspapers and magazines including the Independent, the Guardian, the Times, the Irish Times, Vice.com and Runner’s World. Alongside his love of cycling, David is a long-distance runner with a marathon PB of two hours 28 minutes. Having been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in 2006, he also writes about sight loss and hosts the podcast Ways of Not Seeing.