Tour d'Afrique

Tour d'Afrique is one of the longest and toughest bicycle races and expeditions in the world. It runs each year from January to May following the epic Cairo to Cape Town route. Most of the participants are expedition riders who cover each day at their own pace, stopping in the villages and roadside cafes and immersing themselves in the local culture. The racing format is that of a stage race (~100 stages varying from 40 km to 200 km). There are about 20 rest days. The organisers prepares three meals every day and transport tents and other equipment the riders need for the night stops.

The 2003 Tour d'Afrique set a Guinness World Record for fastest crossing of Africa by bicycle and this was achieved by nine participants of the race, Michael Kennedy, Chris Evans, Dave Genders (all UK), Paul Reynaert (Belgium), Jeremy Wex, Steve Topsham, Scotty Robinson, Andrew Griffin (all Canada) and Sascha Hartl (Austria). The 2008 Tour d'Afrique did not cross Kenya due to the political situation and reported violence.

Start	km	Finish	Winner	First female	Countries on route
2003-01-18	10 967	2003-05-18	Sascha Hartl, Austria	Marie-Claude Baehler, Switzerland	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa
2004-01-17	11 750	2004-05-15	Rob Van der Geest, Netherlands	Sandra Simon, Austria	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2005-01-15	11 786	2005-05-15	Kim Bremer, Denmark	Francziska Morger, Switzerland	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2006-01-14	11 900	2006-05-13	Matt Caretti, United States	Joan Louwrens, South Africa	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2007-01-13	11 900	2007-05-12	Adrie Frijters, Netherlands	Eva Nijssen, Netherlands	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2008-01-12	10 700	2008-05-10	Jos Kaal, Netherlands	Deb Corbeil, Canada	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2009-01-10	11 777	2009-05-09	Allan Benn, South Africa 380:43:34	Taryn Laurie, South Africa 395:25.23	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
2010-01-10	11 844	2010-05-15	Stuart Briggs, Australia	Gisela Gartmair, Germany	Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa

Organisers

Tour d'Afrique Ltd. is a company based in Toronto, Canada, that offers transcontinental bicycle expeditions and races, including Tour d'Afrique. Founded in 2003 by Henry Gold and Michael de Jong, the company's mission is several-fold: To create cycling events that appeal to amateurs and professionals; to cross continents under human power; to give something back to the people and the communities in the areas that the tours pass through; to raise consciousness about bicycles as an alternative and more beneficial means of transport.

As Tour d'Afrique Ltd. has grown so too have its transcontinental bicycling expeditions. The Orient Express follows in the tracks of the legendary train journey from Paris to Istanbul. The 10,800 km Silk Route traces the footsteps of Marco Polo and Genghis Khan as a modern self-powered Silk Road caravan, spinning from Istanbul to Beijing. In 2009 the Vuelta Sudamericana was launched, with a 13,000 km odyssey from Rio de Janeiro to Quito.

The Tour d'Afrique Foundation is an integral part of the company's vision. Through the Foundation bicycles are donated to health care workers and community development groups in Africa and trees are planted to offset carbon.

The EFI Club

EFI refers to "Every Fabulous Inch" of the road ridden by bicycle, without having to ride on a truck to camp. The alternate acronym for EFI is "Every F***ing Inch".

Name	Year	Country
Bram Arets	2011	Netherlands
Jean Bernier	2011	Canada
Kim Lindberg Christensen	2011	Denmark
Scott DeMoss	2011	United States
Tori Fahey	2011	Canada
Carrie Buckmaster	2011	New Zealand
Kim Frandsen	2011	Denmark
Shan Guo	2011	United States
Jörg Hartmann	2011	Germany
Dennis Kipphardt	2011	Germany
Bram Klaassen	2011	Netherlands
Peter Lamond	2011	South Africa
Francis Staunton	2011	United Kingdom
Peter Van As	2011	Netherlands
Paul Wolfe	2011	Canada
Rod Atkinson	2010	Canada
Juliana Austin-Olsen	2010	Canada
Jason Becker	2010	United States
Hartmut Boegel	2010	Germany
Stuart Briggs	2010	Australia
Gerard Coniel	2010	France
Jethro de Decker	2010	South Africa
Simon Francis	2010	South Africa
Gisela Gartmair	2010	Germany
Paul Porter	2010	United States
Sunil Shah	2010	United Kingdom
Frans Smit	2010	Netherlands
Daniel Spasojevic	2010	Australia
Alan Benn	2009
Malcolm Campbell	2009
Tim Gane	2009
Taryn Laurie	2009
Nicholas Marr	2009
Bruce McPhail	2009
Nick Padt	2009
Graeme Scrivener	2009
Lloyd Strong	2009
Craig Tingle	2009
Bruno Boilard	2008
Dave Bouskill	2008
Ton de Jager	2008
Conor Devine	2008
Kerri Finlayson	2008
Craig George	2008
Wouter Gheysels	2008
Alexander Link	2008
Joachim Loffel	2008
Bent Nielsen	2008
Bernd Prorok	2008	Austria
Olivier Thudor	2008
Tony Tuck	2008
Chris Willie	2008
Walter Bachmann	2007
Pierre Bataini	2007
Remy Benois	2007
Andrew Cameron	2007
Marc Cote	2007
George During	2007
Jan Eisenloeffel	2007
Howard Fairbank	2007
Adrie Frijters	2007
Lucette Laflamme	2007
Eva Nijssen	2007
Alice Rawlinson	2007
Gerhard Schadwill	2007
Thomas Vernon	2007
Markus Widmann	2007

See also

Bastiaan van Meeteren

External links

• Official site
• Lonely Planet coverage of 2009