{"id":123589,"date":"2026-06-22T18:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/22\/lael-wilcox-abandons-around-the-world-record-attempt-amid-extreme-heat\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T18:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:40:09","slug":"lael-wilcox-abandons-around-the-world-record-attempt-amid-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/22\/lael-wilcox-abandons-around-the-world-record-attempt-amid-extreme-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Lael Wilcox Abandons Around the World Record Attempt Amid Extreme Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>The ultra-endurance racer faced another week of extreme temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, after having already endured days of grueling heat. &#13;\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border-border-light border-t py-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"flex h-4 justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"\"><button class=\"inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full hover:cursor-pointer bg-bg-surface hover:bg-bg-light focus:bg-bg-dark text-primary border border-solid border-border-light aria-pressed:bg-brand-primary aria-pressed:text-text-surface py-very-tight px-base-tight gap-tight font-semibold font-utility-2 opacity-50\" aria-label=\"Loading audio\" aria-pressed=\"false\" id=\"article-listen-button\" disabled=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\" fill=\"none\" class=\"\"><title>Listen to this article<\/title><path d=\"M12.5265 16.2C12.2326 16.2 12.0122 16.1265 11.7184 16.053C11.2775 15.9061 10.9102 15.6122 10.6898 15.2449C10.4694 14.8775 10.3959 14.4367 10.5428 13.9959L11.5714 10.3959C11.6449 10.1755 11.7184 9.95509 11.8653 9.80815C12.0122 9.66121 12.1592 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10.3224Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"hidden sm:inline\">Listen<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\"> (Photo: Courtesy, REI)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Updated June 22, 2026 02:46PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"http:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/tag\/lael-wilcox\" rel=\"noopener\">Lael Wilcox<\/a>\u00a0abandoned her around the world cycling record attempt after enduring days of extreme heat across the European leg of her ride.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, it\u2019s kind of a miracle I haven\u2019t just passed out,\u201d Wilcox said in an interview with her support team posted to her Instagram account. \u201cI\u2019ve never tried so hard,\u201d she said as tears started to well in her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s saying a lot for someone who knows how to suffer like few others, having made a career out of doing the hardest ultra-endurance rides imaginable. For her latest test, Wilcox had planned to ride a total of 18,000 miles in 78 days, averaging 240 miles a day, to beat the world record set by Mark Beaumont in 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_self\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/lael-wilcox-guinness-world-record-with-108-day-ride-around-the-world\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Wilcox already owns the women\u2019s record<\/a> for the feat at 108.5 days, besting the previous mark by 16 days. That attempt left much room to improve the time: it was done on a relatively mountainous route, with Wilcox carrying her own gear, and riding with supporters along her journey.<\/p>\n<p>Her 2026 route has been optimized for flat terrain, and she has had a full support team, just as Beaumont had for his record-setting ride. All the details were dialed in, but Wilcox hadn\u2019t anticipated extreme heat setting her back to this extent.<\/p>\n<h2>From Chicago to France<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_902374\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img alt=\"lael wilcox\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1601\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-902374\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/240510-Roubaix-5-scaled-e1716861424991.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/240510-Roubaix-5-scaled-e1716861424991.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Last time Lael Wilcox rode around the world, she was carrying her own gear as seen here. This time she\u2019s had a support crew. <\/span>\u00a0(Photo: Rugile Kaladyte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been nauseous every day and finally threw up in the first hour of my ride this morning\u2014 heat exhaustion got the better of me,\u201d she wrote in an Instagram post. \u201cConcerned for my health &amp; safety, my team asked me to stop my ride. Honestly, I\u2019m amazed I\u2019ve endured the past 14 days. Conditions have been really tough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate to quit, but it\u2019s the right choice this time. I just can\u2019t manage race pace in the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After setting out from her hometown of Chicago on June 7, Wilcox had finished the first leg of her journey across southern Canada and had made it across the Iberian peninsula and more than halfway through France before she was forced to throw in the towel. She had traveled just over 3,000 miles in two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>For comparison, the Tour de France next month will cover just over 2,000 miles in three weeks.<\/p>\n<h2>Extreme heat hits Europe<\/h2>\n<p>Lael Wilcox had fallen off her 240-mile-per-day average pace amid the heat and had been trying to cool down with rest stops and ice packs, but even a highly trained athlete like herself isn\u2019t immune to extreme heat, especially when her record-setting ride itinerary leaves no leeway for a rest day.<\/p>\n<p>Extreme heat has been impacting Europe in recent days, and is expected to stick around this week, following her planned route across France, into Belgium, Germany and beyond. Temperatures neared 100 degrees F yesterday in Fontainebleau, France, where she ultimately called off her record attempt. Today, the temperature is forecasted to be even higher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one I feel like it\u2019s more of another climate change lesson, which every year I\u2019m having more and more of those, you know,\u201d Wilcox said. \u201cAnd then it\u2019s like with this my biggest concern was smoke in the west (of the U.S.) and it\u2019s like we\u2019re two months away from that.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t take enjoyment out of how hard it is; I just try to survive. But each day I think \u2018oh this might be the last day\u2019 and I guess today is the last day. I\u2019ve never had that mentality because there\u2019s always a way to push through, except with smoke. And then it turns out it\u2019s not just smoke; it\u2019s also extreme heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amid the disappointment of having to end her journey early, Wilcox maintained her trademark upbeat attitude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[I\u2019m] riding the strongest I think I ever have but it\u2019s just not coming together,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s OK; it\u2019s a bike ride. You know what though, I feel fine. It\u2019s not like the most devastating thing. It\u2019s like you do things, you try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For now, Wilcox\u2019s plans are to head to Switzerland and then back home.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/lael-wilcox-abandons-around-the-world-record-attempt-amid-extreme-heat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ultra-endurance racer faced another week of extreme temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, after having already endured days of grueling heat. &#13; Listen to this articleListen (Photo: Courtesy, REI) Updated June 22, 2026 02:46PM Lael Wilcox\u00a0abandoned her around the world cycling record attempt after enduring days of extreme heat across the European leg of her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}