Kazan 2013 World Cycling Tour: One Month on the Road

Pavel Grachev & Alen Khairullin

KAZAN – The world cycling tour dedicated to the 27th Summer Universiade and undertaken to pay tribute to Onisim Pankratov, the first bicycle tourist in the world, set out from Kazan one month ago, on 3 November.

Within one month two cyclists – Pavel Grachev and Alen Khairullin – have travelled over 3,000 kilometres of their epic journey around the world and have visited such countries as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. During their trip the travellers met with local population to raise the awareness of the Universiade and to promote a healthier way of life.  

The bicycle tourists continue their journey to their next destination – the Czech Republic. Within 7 months the cyclists will cover 21,000 kilometres and visit 13 countries, including Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, USA, China and Kazakhstan. The route will pass through the cities that already hosted the Universiade, including Moscow (1973), Warsaw (1924), Turin (1959, 1970), Beijing (2001) and Harbin (2009). The cyclists are expected to end their journey just ahead of the start of the Games in Kazan. 

(Source: Kazan 2013 Media Dept.)