On Last Day of His 11K-Mile Solo Ride, an Arrest

French endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili was on the verge of smashing a world record with a solo ride across Eurasia—until his journey ended not in triumph but in a Russian jail, just over 100 miles from the finish line. On Sept. 2, the day of his arrest, Sehili, in his mid-40s, had been due to break the 64-day world record for cycling solo from Portugal's western tip to Russia's far east, having logged more than 11,000 unassisted miles across 17 countries in 62 days, per the Washington Post. Despite holding a valid Russian visa, Sehili was accused of illegally crossing from China after failed attempts to enter at border checkpoints, including one accessible only to Russian and Chinese citizens, per the Moscow Times.

Sehili then made his way to Russia through a forest, where he presented his paperwork to Russian border guards upon emerging. His video journals, posted on Instagram, charted his journey's highs and lows, the latter including precipitation, punishing headwinds, and the "endless steppes" of northern China, per the Post. He'd cycled through hours of rain on Sept. 1 and, on what was to be his final day, described putting on wet socks "to ride to Vladivostok," his end point. According to Russian state media, he'll stay behind bars in Ussuriysk until at least Oct. 4 while his case is reviewed; so far, no formal charges have been announced.