Welcome to the NorthCape-Tarifa bicycle adventure
Start your cycling adventure from the northernmost to the southernmost point of the European mainland, traversing diverse countries, cultures, and landscapes. Begin your journey under the 24-hour daylight in the north and end it at the sunny Mediterranean Sea, offering breathtaking views of the next continent, Africa.
The NorthCape-Tarifa bike adventure is a single stage, unsupported cycling challenge covering 7400km across Europe, making it the longest bicycle race in the world.
About
- Start date: June 20th 2026 / 00:01 at the NorthCape, Norway
- Dinner and last minute information: June 19th 2026 / 19:00 at the NorthCape – dinner is offered
- 19.06.2026 / 14:00: bus leaves at Alta to the NorthCape
- Riders registration: June 18th 2026 / 18:00 in Alta, Norway
- Registration: 1st August 2025 until max. March 31st 2026
- 3 categories:
– Single rider
– Pair riders
– Recumbent bikes - 4 finish points:
– Helsinki in Finland (1753km)
– Bregenz in Austria (4070km)
– Nice in France (5370km)
– Tarifa in Spain (7400km) - For whom: for everybody who will go for an unsupported bikepacking adventure
- No time limit.
Registration for the 45-SouthWest is open.
Start 20th June 2025.
The NorthCape-Tarifa starts every 2nd year:
2022 – 2024 – 2026 – 2028
Every other year is the start of the 45-SouthWest:
2023 – 2025 – 2027 – 2029
An adventure of your lifetime…
More videos you find on the video page.
Key facts
| Lowest route point | -211m, below sea level (minus 211m) |
| Highest route point | 3398m, Pico del Veleta |
| Col d’Iseran, 2764m | Highest mountain pass in the Alps |
| Port d’Envalira, 2409m | Highest all year open mountain pass in Europe and highest pass in the Pyronees |
| Pico del Veleta, 3398m | Highest ridable road in Europe, 7000km from the start |
| 8 checkpoints | Helsinki in Finland Hill of Crosses in Lithuania Bregenz in Austria Col du Galibier in France Nice in France Port d’Envalira in Andorra Pico del Veleta in Spain Tarifa in Spain |
| 4 finish points | Helsinki in Finland (1753km) Bregenz in Austria (4070km) Nice in France (5370km) Tarifa in Spain (7400km) |
| 15 countries | Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Italy, France, Andorra, Spain |
The route
4 distances, 4 finish points
1753km / 15,000vm
4070km / 28,000vm
5370km / 48,100vm
7400km / 80,000vm
A safe route…
“The race organizer Andi Buchs had set out not only to make a challenging race, but above all one which was VERY safe. I can count on one hand the number of times I felt I was on a dangerous road over the entire 7,390 km. And that is with fingers to spare.
This really set the race apart from others where the organizers either are not overly concerned about the traffic situations, or allow riders to select their own routes. It is simply impossible to know how safe a road is without being there on your bike, and Andi rode the entire route when planning the race.“
– Christopher Ross Bennett
Read Christopher Ross Bennett’s whole blog about his NorthCape-Tarifa adventure.
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