patrick seabase tour de france

Fixie rider completes epic 300km Tour de France mountain stage

Swiss rider Patrick Seabase tackled the infamous Tour d'Assassin - the 300km mountain stage of the 1910 Tour de France - on a fixie

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We've all heard the stories of just how hard the Tour de France was before World War One, but Swiss rider Patrick Seabase decided to tackle one particular stage, and make it harder.

Seabase tackled the mighty 300km Pyrenean stage from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Bayonne, taking in five mountain passes, including the formidable Col du Tourmalet - which will be tackled on stage eight of the 2016 Tour .

Instead of doing it on a state of the art road bike - which would have been enough of a challenge in itself - Seabase tackled it on a 47x17 fixed-gear bike, with no brakes.

You can check out the documentary about this gruelling ride on the Red Bull website .

Remarkably he completed the ride in just 15 hours 52 minutes and 52 seconds - an average speed of over 24kph and maxing out at a mindboggling 57kph.

When you have no other way of slowing down on the mountains than simply stopping pedalling, I imagine it got a bit hairy on the descents.

Seabase was congratulated at the time by his fellow Swiss Fabian Cancellara on Twitter:

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters. 

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The Rider Post | 4 juin 2015

Patrick Seabase boucle l’étape historique du Tour de France en fixie

Le suisse Patrick Seabase est devenu le premier cycliste à parcourir l’étape "assassine" des Pyrénées du Tour de France de 1910 mais avec un vélo à pignon fixe, c'est à dire avec une seule vitesse et sans frein ! Accompagné de son directeur sportif, l’ancien cycliste professionnel allemand Danilo Hondo , Patrick a franchi cinq cols, parcouru 309 kilomètres (plus de 7611 mètres d’altitude) en 12 heures et 54 minutes d'effort pour cette étape historique qui avait à l'époque déclenché la colère des coureurs et marquée par le fameux " Vous êtes des assassins " d’ Octave Lapize . En 1910, les organisateurs du Tour de France intégraient, pour la première fois, cette étape de montagne dans la Grande Boucle, déclenchant un vif tollé au sein du peloton ! Et pour cause : avec plus de 300 kilomètres entre Bagnères-de-Luchon et Bayonne , 6 000 mètres de dénivelé positif et 5 cols à franchir, cette redoutable étape a terrorisé les coureurs les plus tenaces avant d’être abandonnée des années plus tard. Plus de 100 ans plus tard, le cycliste suisse Patrick Seabase a décidé de rouler dans les traces de ces légendes du vélo et d'être le premier à parcourir cette étape mythique mais sur un fixie (braquet 47/17). Patrick est parti hier à 4h00 de Bagnères de Luchon pour une arrivée le soir-même à Bayonne .

Départ avec la pleine lune Le départ était à quatre heures du matin et la pleine lune illuminait la route vers le Col de Peyresourde. « C’était le plus beau moment de la journée. C’était comme si quelqu’un me poussait en haut de la montagne », il s’extasie une fois arrivé. A l’aube, il a surmonté le Col d’Aspin avant de relever le plus grand défi : le Col du Tourmalet redouté même des plus expérimentés. « Après cinq kilomètres de montée modérée, est venue une section de 12 kilomètres avec une pente entre 8 et 12%. J’ai quand même eu plus de facilité que je ne l’imaginais. Certainement aussi grâce à Danilo Hondo qui m’a toujours motivé. » Danilo Hondo (son directeur sportif et ancien cycliste professionnel allemand) : « Régulièrement, j’ai dû lui dire de ne pas oublier de manger et de boire. Je lui ai dit de ne pas rouler trop vite au début et quand il était au bout de ses forces, je l’ai motivé en lui disant qu’il y aurait bientôt une partie plus plate.» Et contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait penser, même les descentes n’étaient pas reposantes. Pour freiner il faut exercer une contrepression sur les pédales. Donc même la descente est un tour de force.

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Swiss cyclist Patrick Seabase to tackle the Tourmalet on a fixie

During the 1910 Tour de France, July 21 saw a lot of action—very hard, leg-burning action.

A 326-km route starting in Bagneres-de-Luchon and terminating in Bayonne, that race’s tenth stage was the highest of the race, peaking 6,000 m above sea level at the top of the Tourmalet. Octave Lapize was the first to summit; right behind him, still in the saddle, was Gustave Garrigou. That he didn’t dismount at all during the gruelling alpine climb earned Garrigou another 100 francs—an extra prize recognizing the achievement.

On June 3, another cyclist is going to tackle the same legendary ride, climbing the stage’s five mountain passes on a fixie. It’s a “little ride,” to quote his Facebook page , for which 31-year-old Patrick Seabase has been training for months—and he’s determined to reach the top without dismounting, too.

Using a fixie isn’t just for show, though. It’s the defining challenge of the ride. “I want to find out what the pioneers felt on their simple bikes 105 years ago,” Seabase said. The prize for the Bern, Switzerland-born endurance rider is simply to say that he met the challenge, joining the ranks of others who conquered the terrain with basic equipment. That, he emphasizes, is the point of doing the trek on his chosen gear. Calling it the most minimalist, puristic bike that exists, a fixie is the closest a cyclist can get to the bare-bones rides used more than a hundred years ago, he said. With only one gear ratio and no brakes, it’s leg strength, momentum and raw, pedal-cranking determination that he’ll use to fuel his climb, boosted a bit by some key support during the trip.

Much of that support comes from Danilo Hondo, whose notably tumultuous 18-year pro career ended just a few months ago. His doping controversy now 10-years behind him—charges for which the 41-year-old German road cyclist was exonerated—Hondo has translated his long, storied experience into supporting others, currently riding in the Grand Tour of the Pyrenees as a sporting leader and motivator. With their routes intersecting in France, Hondo is as determined as Seabase is to see him climb the Tourmalet successfully .

“You can give up quickly,” Hondo said. “I will show Patrick that even the difficult times pass and it is also worth fighting on.”

The notorious mountain stage of the early 20th century Tour de France, known to history as the “treacherous stage,” was stricken from the race schedule not long after 1910. Ever since, no phase of the Tour de France has compared. So with that in mind, the company that Seabase will keep—assuming he succeeds in his ambitious journey—will be even more exclusive. It might not be a Guinness World Record that Seabase is looking to break, but in the cycling world, it’s hard to argue with the prestige of having swept aside such a towering obstacle as the Tourmalet, especially with the barest-minimum gear. Recognizing that, even Seabase’s drive to do it has turned some very significant heads.

“That is just about the toughest thing you can do,” said five-time mountain bike world champion Nino Schurter. “It’s tough on a racing bike. The stages are no longer that long. And all that on a fixie where you can’t recover in the downhill phases.”

You can imagine the champion rider shaking his head in amazement at Seabase’s bold, almost crazy plan. “My hat’s off to him if he makes it.”

Follow Seabase’s progress by visiting the his webpage .

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Spectrum: Patrick Seabase: With the fixie on the killer stage

Filed Under: Spectrum Tagged With: fixie , News , Patrick Seabase

28 May 2015 by the editorial office Leave a Comment

Spectrum: The Swiss Patrick Seabase is certainly one of the strongest and craziest fixie athletes in the world. In the past he conquered mountains, passes and descents on his track bike that most of us would probably capitulate to on a normal bike. On June 3, the 31-year-old's biggest challenge to date awaits: he wants to complete the famous first mountain stage of the 2010 Tour de France – the Tour d'Assassin.

When Patrick gets on his bike in Bahgnères-deLuchon at 4 a.m. on June 3, an almost incomprehensibly difficult test awaits him: more than 300 km, 6.000 meters of altitude difference and five mountain passes await on the legendary route, which is the first mountain stage of the Tour de France 1910 was. A few years later, the organizers again distanced themselves from the Tour d'Assassin, as it was called - it was simply too hard for most participants. Between the starting line and the finish in Bayonne are five world-famous passes that have a very special aura, not only for cyclists: Cols de Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque and Oquich are their names.

Patrick himself is looking forward to the attempt, but has just as much respect: “I want to feel what the pioneers felt on their simple bikes 105 years ago. If I'm in  When I arrive in Bayonne, I have achieved something monumental for me.”  And he is actually not wrong when he compares his fixie with the bikes of the participants of the Tour de France more than 100 years ago: At that time the athletes could at least fall back on two gears, freewheel and simple rim brakes were already available . All of this will not be available to Seabase next Wednesday. "It's like being strapped onto a rocket. Everything I do on the bike translates directly to the road." he describes the driving experience.

The 5-time mountain bike world champion Nino Schurter is also impressed by the Swiss's plan: "It's one of the hardest things you can do. Even with a racing bike, that's extremely tough. There are no longer such long stages. And that with a fixie, where you can't relax on the descent either. Chapeau if he can do it.”

Fans can follow the attempt live at www.redbull.com/seabase1910. In addition to a live ticker, the position of Patrick Seabase is also displayed live on a map via GPS. In any case, we will follow this hellish ride next week with great interest!

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Riding the 1910 Tour de France route - on a fixed gear bike

• Col de Peyresourde: Height 5147 feet, elevation gain 3080 feet, distance 15.2km
• Col d'Aspin: Height 4885 feet, elevation gain 2575 feet, distance 7.6 miles
• Col du Tourmalet: Height 6939 feet, elevation gain 4167 feet, distance 17.2km
• Col d'Aubisque: Height 5607 feet, elevation gain 4091 feet, distance 30.2km
• Col d'Osquich: Height 1663 feet, elevation gain 951 feet, distance 5.1km

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Commendable, but,,,,,,about doing on a 1910 bicycle? @/\@ (just saying)  

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One Fixed Gear Bike, One IWC Big Pilot And 300km of The Tour De France

by Justin Hast . Dec 3, 2016

Patrick Seabase is a very, very cool guy (and he didn’t pay me to say it — annoyingly). He just is. We first met last year at SIHH at the IWC booth (the one with the giant fighter jet in the roof… remember?).

We instantly hit it off (in a bromance kind of way).  But beyond his tattoos, his all black getup and laid back demeanor, I could tell he harbored a steely determination. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on how.

In truth, I really didn’t have a clue what the hell the guy did until I got home from the show. Turns out he’s a mad man. If you had to, I guess, you could describe him as a professional lifestyle cyclist. And when he was in London recently we met up at the IWC boutique to have a chat. But first, a bit of a background:

The Tour de France is brutal. Of that there is no doubt. Even for guys with a full set of gears. But Patrick has fought and conquered the mighty 300km Pyrenean stage from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Bayonne, taking in five mountain passes, including the formidable Col du Tourmalet (original 1910 circuit)  — which was seen in this year’s Tour. I will tell you this, I’m not built to be on a bike but this man sure is.

To put it in perspective, what the top cyclists in the world had to call on every ounce of heart and soul to complete, was what Patrick did with a single gear…and with no breaks.

Riding bikes and answering emails. I often think it’s like I have a hamster in my brain. I spend a lot of time thinking; coming up with crazy new ideas. I also find inspiration all over the place. I’m always being inspired by stuff, although, never by cycling.

I don’t associate much with the cycling community. My inspiration comes from art and alternative lifestyles. Cycling is simply a remedy for the mind. An opportunity to push yourself, physically. I cycle for that very reason. I also ride a bike with only one gear and no brakes because I love how raw it is. How deep your connection has to be with the bike. I have a deep appreciation for the simplicity of it.

You started as a skateboarder right?

I did. From the age of 8; I quit when I was 20.

My girlfriend. I think she kinda of thought ‘when is he going to be a grown up?’ I loved it, but I always found myself, hurting myself. And maybe I needed to grow up too.

Looking back that period between 10 and 20 marks you as an individual. I was into the culture. I had many good years — I don’t look back in anger.

And you’ve done some mad things on a bike. But why take on the mighty 300km Pyrenean stage from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Bayonne?

It being a personal challenge for sure, but  also I wanted to know what those athletes went through during the first mountain stage of the Tour de France; riding over rough roads through the wilderness of the Pyrenees.

So did you go straight in with the fixed gear and no brakes?

Yup. Ten years ago now — straight in — boom; no gears and no brakes. I put the bike together with a friend who has a cycling store. We built it, we then went out and climbed on. It was love at first.

I know that sounds superficial, but I just loved the design of the thing. It spoke to me. I then found as I dug deeper and spent more time with the bike, I discovered more and more. I look at guys who use hand rails to slide down on skateboards and see it an art form and I guess I saw taking this bike and doing exactly what it wasn’t designed to do and climbing very steep mountains on it.

You are clearly in love with the form and simplicity of a fixed gear bike, but that was the last thing you fell in love with?

It’s always music. I find with music, I fall in love over and over again. It’s a continuous relationship of love. Aside from music, you know sometimes I fall in love with a girl, very superficially, would see her and have this head cinema going on. Thinking about it, I actually fell in love with a girl’s face as I passed her in Zurich yesterday.

Did you tell her?

[Laughs]…no man! I couldn’t. I like to restrain a little. When you look at different cultures, when it comes to behavior, the Japanese like to operate at two and the Europeans like to keep it on 5. I try to find a place in the middle. I don’t like to force stuff. But if I was to, I’d go for it full gas. It’s like in many areas of my life, it’s all or nothing. I like that.

Do you have a role model or someone who inspires you?

I’ve not actively thought about it. But I do have this friend who is a doctor, he is 68 years old, and he works for the Red Cross. He was in Sudan for 2 years alone! The only doctor in the area where many people were losing their lives.

He has this incredibly pragmatic view on life. He has some great stories. I love it when you get to know someone deeply and they leave this tag on you. Generally, I look back on moments as opposed to people. I take those learnings and add them to my armory.

What’s your relationship with IWC and their watches?

There is both a personal and a professional relationship. The personal relationship begun when I got my first ‘proper’ watch. I was almost 18 years old. I was still skateboarding and my mission was to get to San Diego. Basically because I had some old friends I wanted to join out there.

So I was given this IWC Ingenieur from the 70’s by my father. A killer watch — but the sadness was I sold it for a couple grand to pursue my skateboarding. With the money I had my friend book my ticket to San Diago as I didn’t even have a card. And that was it. It was a great time. We filmed a lot of video and I got taste of the professional skate lifestyle.

I’ve got a deep passion and respect for craftsmanship. For example, if you tell me it’s a pair of jeans spun by traditional weaving by a guy in Japan with one eye and one arm — I’m in! I will always look to support the little guy, the craftsman.

I like objects with a story and soul. And that’s why I came to IWC. Now, IWC are a big brand. You can’t deny that. But they sort of fly under the radar.

The first IWC I bought was a Mark XVIII. Damn great watch — super versatile. Since then I’ve also got an AMG Ingenieur and then a ceramic Top Gun Big Pilot, which I worn on the bike and must have clocked over 10,000 kilometers wearing — and it still looks new.

What’s next in the collection?

It’s definitely the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Galapagos Islands”. I love it — so solid — such a great daily beater. And I love black watches.

What are you up to here in London?

I’m here for the Assos cycling store opening. They are a great Swiss clothing manufacturer that I have a partnership with. They were the first company to use Lycra in cycling clothing. This store is their first mono brand store outside of Switzerland.

Patrick, when are you at your happiest?

When everything I can control is under control.

What are those things?

Physical and mental things. I need to feel healthy. That’s fundamental. I also like to consider how I present myself.  I love the mornings when you wake up naturally, without an alarm, and have that overwhelming sense of possibility.

I love being able to plan my day. This has to be the ultimate luxury in life today: To be able to plan your day. I love the freedom of being able to go cycling, go to the gym or maybe meet someone, this is living.

If you could ride just one stretch of road again, which would it be and why?

The climb in Gran Canaria Maspalomas to San Bartolomé, because it’s absolutely beautiful and you always have tail wind on you — which you don’t have in Switzerland.

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Patrick Seabase cycling is a personal philosophy

The swiss rider who, thanks to his track bike, combines peaks and minimalism, introspection and architecture.

“I look for remote areas of the world: places where I can feel alone, where distractions or restrictions cancel out, where nature supports me. In these scenarios I am inundated with sensations, everything is much more saturated. Conquering a mountain is extremely powerful, getting to the top thanks to your body and the help of your bike is pure euphoria”.   Patrick Seabase’s  voice pedals between metaphorical strength and ability to suggest,  it pushes us into hidden places, it allows us to explore hybrid universes: outer and inner, tangible and intangible dimensions.

“The more you ride a bike, the more intense the relationship with this element becomes. I think it’s a valid paradigm for any passion, like painting or playing an instrument. It’s a gradual process that evolves in your subconscious.”  For this  Swiss ultra-athlete,  the relationship with the  bike  represents much more than the modern chanson de geste that he has managed to create and complete in recent years: epic challenges that have led his legs to dominate sublime climbs and endless ultramarathons on two wheels.

His connection with the  Track Bike  seems to be a private, personal philosophical current, an introspective study of the athletic challenge, of the exceptional exploit that results in passionate historical evocation, in erudite anthropological examination.  “The replica of a 1910 Tour de France stage is the long ride I am most fond of. I love the pioneers, I love their ability to achieve the unthinkable, their pragmatism, their way of appearing. Modern cyclists don’t inspire me like these legendary figures. The bike allows me to feed my cultural sphere. I am particularly fascinated by architecture, civil engineering, bridges and roads. Just think about the transition of an ancient road to asphalt…. That element becomes a symbol of an enormous process called civilization”

Sociology and minimalism, knowledge and effort. In front of Patrick’s words,  cycling turns into a magnet of the most disparate themes:  components that form consciousness and intellect, that force him to reflect on his human and professional condition.  “I don’t see myself as a cyclist. I’m not part of any scene, I feel by myself, I go my own way without judging anyone. Many of the things I do are not commercial, but underground: it’s difficult to maintain a balance between these two poles, because the more commercial something is, the more you lose creative control over it. And I struggle to live with that compromise. After years on the bike, I realized that my passion was turning solely into work, and in recent months I’ve decided to distance myself from it. Sometimes you have to get away from the thing you love to find the old flame again”.

And walking away from one thing also means being able to get closer to another.  Photography,  for example: a pivotal tool for a necessary personal evolution and for a new project, far from pedals and handlebars.  “During the pandemic I was stuck in America with a broken frame. So I started doing long hikes and photography. I have been photographing for over twenty years and this last period has allowed me to mature a new perspective on my surroundings, on myself. I realized that other things, besides cycling, can make me happy. For this reason I decided to create a new outlet: a platform allowing me to express my vision and the things that inspire me. More on this soon”.

Photo by  Phil Gale IG  1_in_the_gutter Athlete  Patrick Seabase IG  @patrickseabase Text by  Gianmarco Pacione

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Red Bull presents “UnBRAKEable: The Patrick Seabase Challenge” on ROUVY

Zürich, Switzerland / February 15, 2021 - Red Bull teams up with ROUVY to offer epic Swiss cycling locations to the cycling community across the globe. Right from the comfort of their own homes, cyclists can now virtually visit and enjoy the stunning magnificence of the Furka  Pass, the Grimsel, the Simplon and  the king of Swiss climbs, the legendary and must-visit for any climber, the Gotthard Pass. Any rider can now become a part of the amazing but grueling endurance challenge that Patrick Seabase did with his fixie bike conquering 330 kilometres and 8,500m in altitude in just one day.  He achieved this feat in a single journey, across Switzerland, with just one gear and no breaks!

One gear. No brakes. 330 km and 8,500m in altitude. All in one day.

Patrick Seabase set off at 3am in early September 2020 on his fixie track bike. Alongside a camera crew, he started a day that will see him cross five iconic Swiss mountain passes and pedal past personally meaningful places. The tour demanded superhuman powers to deal with temperature differences of 28°C, steep descents and brutal headwinds.

A highly technical challenge

In his case, not only was the ride to the top of every pass a challenge, the race downhill was also a test to his limits. His bike had no gears or brakes. It possessed just a fixed gear i.e. the cog was directly tied to the motion of the pedals. This meant his legs were in constant movement – even when he was going downhill. The only way to brake was by counter pressing the pedal, blocking the back wheel and sliding on the road.

A very personal tour

But why this particular route? Seabase chose the tour as it ran past places that personally meant a lot to him. And with that, it became not only a unique challenge but also a trip down memory lane that was reminiscent of his childhood holidays.

«Unbrakeable» starts in Innertkirchen, from where Patrick Seabase crossed the Grimsel and Simplon Passes on his way to Locarno by the Lago Maggiore. The tour follows his crossing the Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass, and once again on the back part of the Grimsel Pass to reach Oberaarsee.

With «Unbrakeable», Seabase probably faced the biggest challenge of his career. The tour was  as beautiful as it was difficult for the swiss athlete: «The descent towards Gletsch was really tough and tricky to handle because of the conditions. For the first time in my life, I was actually afraid on my bike.»

Thanks to ROUVY, anyone can now become part of the adventure from the comfort of one’s own home. A 34km Furka  Pass - Oberaarsee, the 27km Grimsel Pass, 24 km Simplon and the king of Swiss climbs, the legendary and must-visit 13km Gotthard Pass, will deliver the essence and emotions of Alpine Switzerland to any rider joining the Challenge. ROUVY’s augmented reality technology enables athletes to experience magnificent mountains, breathtaking views and stunning locations all-in-all with 1:1 realistic efforts, requiring just a bike, a smart trainer and any computer device with a screen.

Each of the three fastest women and men who complete all the 4 courses from February 15 to March 14 will receive a 30% discount code for alphatauri.com and a tray of 24 cans of Red Bull Energy Drink.

Registration for the Challenge, as well as the iconic Swiss courses, are now available here .

ABOUT PATRICK SEABASE

On his fixed-gear bicycle, the athlete from Bern has already conquered many of the existing cycling monuments. To this date, his toughest test was recreating the legendary first mountain stage of the Tour de France, which was done in 1910 for the first time. Why does he do this to himself? Because for him, this is the purest form of cycling. Only the process matters to him: the greater the suffering on the road, the better the feeling when you reach your goal.

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Patrick Seabase x 1910 Tour de France

photo credit @ VA Images

When in 1910 the organisers of the Tour de France included a mountain stage in the race for the first time, the outcry in the peloton was huge. With 300 kilometres and 6000 vertical metres of climbing over five mountain passes from Bagnères de Luchon to Bayonne, it was a brutal parcours that struck fear into the heart of even the toughest riders of the time. Now, 105 years later, Switzerland’s Patrick Seabase is set to follow in the tyre tracks of those cycling legends by becoming the first athlete to complete this legendary stage … on a fixie. His challenge of a lifetime starts on 3 June 2015 in the Pyrenees. Fans can follow the adventure in real-time with GPS tracking and a live feed at www.redbull.com/Seabase1910.

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7 things you'll hear in the Decoding Athletes podcast with Patrick Seabase

Part of this story

Matthias Dandois

France's matthias dandois blurs the line between flatland and street riding through his constant progression and creativity..

1. "I go somewhere, ride my bike, capture it on film and release it. And that’s it"

Seabase 1910, patrick seabase recreates the gruelling first mountain stage of the 1910 tour de france on a fixed-gear bike., 2. "if i'd realised how fast i was going, i would have probably crashed", 3. "i remember seeing it in san francisco and i was like, 'oh man, that's beautiful, that's like a bike for people who don't like bikes'".

Descending mountain pases with no brakes is a serious skill

© Phil Gale/Red Bull Content Pool

4. "I train because I want to climb a mountain without looking like a potato bag. I don't like looking like garbage on a bike"

5. "it certainly doesn’t really inspire me. i'm sorry, it doesn't", 8 things you'll hear in decoding athletes with miles …, 7 things you'll hear in the decoding athletes podcast …, 6 things you'll hear in the decoding athletes podcast …, 6. "i don't think i'd get a tattoo now, because they're everywhere", 7. "great things happen when men and mountains meet".