Following hot on the heels of Annemiek van Vleuten’s epic ride around the Netherlands this week, Paralympic gold medallist Danial Abraham decided to jump on the time trial bike for his own mind-blowing day in the saddle.
Abraham, winner of the C4-5 Paralympic road race in Rio in 2016, rode a staggering 561km in a single day on Tuesday (June 2), while riding an enormous loop of the Netherlands.
The Dutchman spent 17 hours on the his TT bike, after he had previously ridden 400km in a ride and said he “found it not too bad actually.”
Abraham, who races for Beat Cycling Club, told cycling news website Wielerflits: “I came up with the idea myself. I’ve already ridden 400km but I found it not too bad actually.
“So I took out the time trial bike to ride as many kilometres as possible and I succeeded.”
Abraham started his ride a 2am on Tuesday morning and rode for the next 17 hours and 30 minutes, covering 561km.
The 35-year-old didn’t take it easy, as he rode at an average speed of 32.1km/h (just under 20mph) and average 155 watts for the duration.
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Starting from the village of Muiderberg, not far from Amsterdam, Abraham rode to the northern coast of the Netherlands before heading south again.
He added: “I left at night and was able to maintain a good speed.
“When I arrived at the Veluwe (the forest region around Apeldoorn) it was pitch black and wild boars were jumping around on both sides. Then I thought ‘I’m going to take it easy now’.
“When it was light again, I was past the Veluwe and I was able to increase my speed again.”
Abraham, who moved to the Netherlands from Eritrea as a refugee in 2000, won gold in the Paralympic road race in 2016 in the C4-5 category, for athletes with lower limb impairments.
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