Paris (AFP)

Bahrain team British sprinter Mark Cavendish, confined like most runners around the world, announced that he had climbed a positive elevation of 8,848 meters, the equivalent of Everest, while pedaling on a home trainer.

"I just crossed Everest with (his compatriot) Luke Rowe. The idea came to us when we learned that the weather would be bad," wrote the sprinter to the 30 stage victories on the Tour de France on Saturday evening. on social networks, by posting a screenshot of his exploit on a home-trainer platform.

"I take my hat off to anyone who has passed this challenge," added the 34-year-old runner, adding: "8,848 meters above sea level in a single ascent, 211 km, 10 h 37 min 32 seconds".

On April 19, the Italian Giulio Ciccone, crowned best climber of the Tour of Italy 2019, had reached 10,397 meters of elevation gain over a distance of 254 km in 11h 19mn by pedaling from his balcony on the same platform, with an average of 1,100 virtual spectators at any time during the race.

Despite constant refueling, he had left over two kilos there and testified that he had never suffered as much on a bicycle.

In mid-April, Welshman Geraint Thomas had pedaled 36 hours on his reels - in three days at a rate of 12 hours / day - to raise funds for the British public health system (NHS), whose staff are fighting to treat patients with Covid-19 in the UK. He had obtained 300,000 pounds (nearly 350,000 euros) in donations.

© 2020 AFP