A Winning Streak with Robin Gemperle

IMAGES: Lloyd Wright

TEXT: Robin mit Pedaled

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IMAGES: Lloyd Wright

TEXT: Robin mit Pedaled

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Fresh off his record-breaking Tour Divide victory, PEdALED rider Robin Gemperle headed to Kyrgyzstan to mark another major achievement off his ultra-cycling bucket list: winning the Silk Road Mountain Race—a task he accomplished in just 6 days, 20 hours, and 36 minutes. We sat down with Robin at the finish line to learn firsthand how his Silk Road experience stacked up against his other recent big wins.

You’ve done it again. How does it feel to win two iconic ultra-races in the same summer?

I’m actually not so interested in only the two. I think for me, it’s rather three iconic ultra races: the TCR, Tour Divide, and Silk Road Mountain Race. I’m particularly happy to have won all three of them, and I’m not particularly interested in having won the Tour Divide and the Silk Road in one season.

Physically, how does the Silk Road Mountain Race compare to the Tour Divide or TCR?

I haven’t drawn my final conclusions yet in terms of which one is the hardest, which one is the nicest, which one is the coolest. But in a sense, I think my idea of wanting to win these three races because they are the most relevant long ultra-distance races has really been proven true. These three races together require a degree of completeness for this discipline, and therefore I always thought winning all three would be my big goal—almost a career project.

And now I’ve done that and it’s been good. I can’t really tell you which one has been the hardest or the best, but the combination of the three is really quite unique and special.

How about strategically, how do they compare?

The Transcontinental is for sure the physical/tactical one. Then Tour Divide has been the mental one—to negotiate with myself, day after day. And of course, it was also a physically great performance, but it wasn’t such a tactical battle against someone else. And then the Silk Road Mountain Race is clearly the adventurous one—it covers all the aspects of a more classical idea of unsupported ultra-cycling. You have to deal with limited resupply options, with the issue that if you have a problem with your bike, it’s basically a scratch. Also, the fact that you are continually entering unknown territories. So TCR is physical, Tour Divide is mental, and Silk Road is adventurous.

How did your approach differ between these races?

For my first one, the TCR, I didn’t have the same confidence that I do now, so it was really about being perfectly prepared and in a mind space that would allow me to go absolutely flat-out for ten days. And being absolutely sure that there was nothing that could distract me during those ten days.

For the Tour Divide, I had a certain degree of self confidence in terms of my physical capabilities, but I was still quite doubtful when it came to whether or not I’d be able to stay at it for even a few days more. That kind of thought made me really unsure. But the physical preparation was quite similar. The only difference is that I was doing it professionally by that point, so I had a bit more time to train.

And now with the Silk Road, a major change was definitely recovering after the Tour Divide. The time window after the race was quite short—around six weeks. And I also kind of struggled to be hungry. I wasn’t so sure whether I’d really be able to enter race mode, so there was a certain degree of uncertainty, even though I was 100 percent sure on a physical level that probably no one would be as fast as I am. So, the insecurities were more due to a personal lack of motivation. But that went away when the race started.

So maybe something to take away from the three races is that you never end up with complete self-confidence. There are always some doubts you have to deal with, even if you know that you’re physically quite capable.

As a race that’s likely been on your radar for a while, what was it like to finally ride the Silk Road? What were some of the biggest surprises/challenges?

It’s quite funny, actually. Some people might know that the Silk Road has always been the race I really wanted to do when I started with ultra-cycling. But I was always a bit scared of actually doing it. I remember saying to Nelson after the Atlas Mountain Race in 2023 that I wanted to do the Silk Road but still didn’t quite feel prepared. And he said, “Dude, you just won the Atlas Mountain Race, so you should be fine.” But it still took two more years till I really felt ready.

But due to the fact that I’d really been thinking about it a lot, and because I’d seen quite a few films and pictures about it—and the fact that the whole race is described by the organizers quite accurately and you know what you’re getting into—I’d have to say that the race has been exactly as I expected. I expected it to be really incredible in terms of landscapes, for example. I expected it to be really difficult in terms of resupply. And there, I’d say it turned out to be better than what I had planned; I was able to get in the calories I needed. I knew that there would probably be massive issues in terms of communication with locals, which of course has been the case. But as I had been thinking about it so much, it wasn’t such a big problem.

Apropos Kalorien und Nachschub – auf dem Silk Road gab es viele Fahrer, die wegen Krankheit aufgegeben haben. Du schienst keine Probleme gehabt zu haben. Hast du eine Strategie, um Magenprobleme zu vermeiden?

Ich finde es lustig, das ist auch etwas, worüber jeder redet: krank werden in Kirgisistan. Und wenn man in den sozialen Medien schaut, sieht es wirklich so aus, als würde jeder in Kirgisistan krank werden – vor dem Rennen, währenddessen oder spätestens danach. Aber mir ist das nicht passiert, deshalb frage ich mich, ob ich einfach glücklich oder ob ich einige Voraussetzungen habe, die mir bei diesen Rennen wirklich helfen . Bei all den anderen Rennen, die ich gemacht habe, hatte ich nie Probleme mit meinem Magen.

Für mich war klar, dass es ein Risiko ist, krank zu werden, und ich habe darauf geachtet, was ich esse. Ich habe kein auch nur ansatzweise rohes Fleisch gegessen. Ich habe kein Wasser aus dem Hahn getrunken. Ich bin wirklich auf Nummer sicher gegangen. Aber mittlerweile verstehe ich, dass es mir einfach nicht passiert.

Von sengenden temperaturen bis Schnee – dieses Rennen hatte wirklich alles zu bieten. Kannst du uns erzählen, welche Rolle das Wetter bei deinem Rennen gespielt hat?

Ich zweifle immer daran, ob ich bei extremen Wetterbedingungen fahren kann. Denn zum Beispiel hatte ich beim Tour Divide wirklich Glück mit dem Wetter. Aber ich wusste, dass das beim Silk Road wahrscheinlich nicht der Fall sein würde, deshalb hatte ich etwas Angst. Aber wenn man es dann tatsächlich macht, merkt man, dass es gar nicht so schlimm ist. Das Wetter ist meistens beängstigend, aber eigentlich kein wirkliches Problem.

Ich würde sagen, es gab ein paar Situationen, in denen es wirklich mich ausgebremst hat und ich mich an das Wetter anpassen musste. Eine war am etwa vierten Tag, irgendwo oben in einem Hochtal, wo es minus sechs Grad um fünf Uhr morgens war, bevor die Sonne aufging, und ich konnte einfach nicht mehr weiterfahren. Ich musste zwanzig Minuten anhalten, weil der Wind zusammen mit den kalten Temperaturen einfach zu viel war. Ich musste anhalten und herumhüpfen ein bisschen.

Aber das größte Problem war in der letzten Nacht. Ich hatte geplant, noch einmal 90 Minuten zu schlafen, weil ich glaube, dass das schneller gewesen wäre, in der letzten Nacht zu schlafen. Aber es war einfach zu kalt zum Anhalten, also habe ich beschlossen, die ganze Nacht durchzufahren, was am Ende zu einer 32-stündigen Fahrt bis zum Ziel führte, was ziemlich viel und nicht optimal war. Aber das zeigt auch einen weiteren guten Aspekt meiner Taktik, die viel Schlaf beinhaltet. Weil ich in den Nächten zuvor so viel geschlafen hatte, war es kein großes Problem, die letzte Nacht durchzuziehen, da ich überhaupt nicht übermüdet war.

Und dieses Konzept, viel zu schlafen und schnell zu pushen, war das ein gemeinsames Thema bei allen Rennen? Hat sich das bei einem davon geändert?

Ich würde sagen, vielleicht ist das etwas, das sich in meinem Ansatz für alle drei Rennen verändert hat. Ich erinnere mich, dass ich beim TCR noch nicht hundertprozentig sicher war, ob mehr Schlaf als die anderen Fahrer sich wirklich auszahlt. Dann habe ich gemerkt: Ja, tut es. Dann habe ich beim Tour Divide erkannt, dass man wirklich deutlich mehr schlafen kann als andere. Und jetzt beim Silk Road war es keine Option, zu wenig zu schlafen. Es war klar, dass ich jede Nacht viereinhalb Stunden schlafen würde. Ich habe immer viel geschlafen, aber die Gewissheit, dass das die richtige Strategie ist, wurde mit jedem Rennen größer.

Talking about conditions, you always wear the Odyssey Collection. How did your equipment preparation differ between these races, especially with the Silk Road being the most difficult, weather-wise?

It’s definitely different approaches for the three different races. For TCR, it was actually quite easy to prepare. I looked into aerodynamic kit. I made sure the stuff I wore was nice and tight—and even if it rained, that I’d still be aerodynamically optimized. At the Tour Divide, aerodynamics played a role, but a certain degree of comfort with cold temperatures and bad weather was also needed. And now, here at the Silk Road, aerodynamics didn’t play a role in terms of equipment. There was one piece of gear that I really loved in these cold conditions, and it was my Odyssey Rain Pants. I didn’t really need them only for the rain, but also in general to stay warm.

Any tips for others planning to take on the Silk Road?

I think it’s super difficult to give any particular tips from my perspective. You have to be rather experienced to do it the way that I do it: pack light, ride fast, and take some risks in terms of resupply and the stuff you carry. So, I’d say that for general tips, maybe I’m not the right person to ask. But for sure, I would say, even with Silk Road, the whole thing is not as bad as everyone tells you. It’s totally doable if you prepare well. Don’t underestimate it, but don’t be scared by everyone saying it’s the hardest thing in the world.

What are your plans for recovery and what’s the next race on your list?

I’m going home almost a week after the finish. And even though I said last time that there won’t be a big party in my town, there is a big party in my town on exactly that weekend. It’s a music festival. That is first among the plans for recovery. No, but honestly, I have a very specific plan for recovery. I come home on Thursday, then on Thursday evening, I drink a bottle of champagne with my friends. Then on Friday, I need to work a bit. On Friday evening, I go to the music festival. On Saturday morning, I go to a coffee shop that’s about forty minutes away by bike. And then on Saturday evening, I go to the music festival again. Then on Sunday, I do nothing.

What about after the festival?

Then I’ll take another week off. Of course, I’ll always be active. Then I’ll do two weeks of fun training—unstructured training. Then I’ll begin preparing for 2026 around the end of September. And then, 2026 will be about shorter races, in general. I’d like to win a few short ones. I’ll also be doing Transcontinental. Maybe something in February, I don’t know yet. Part of the season is clear, but I like to be flexible. I’d really like to have a proper winter training break.