Vegan cyclist crosses Spain in a heatwave for convincing win

Alberto Pelaez Serrano is known for some epic endurance events both on foot and on the bike.  He’s just completed an epic cycling race and won by a convincing margin.

The Spanish vegan took on El Camino, a gravel bike race that follows the French Way of the Camino de Santiago.  Alberto covered 720 km from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela.  Cyclists competed on a road route, while Alberto took on the gravel route.

As well as 447 miles on unpaved surfaces, he faced 9000 metres of elevation gain.  That’s more than climbing Mount Everest!

Alberto, who has been vegan for fourteen years, finished in 43 hours and 54 minutes, leaving more than ten hours before the second rider came in.  However, not everything went to plan.

“It was extremely tough due to a heatwave that lasted throughout the entire event and caused many riders to drop out” he told Great Vegan Athletes. “I also had a problem when I lost my GPS device during the race, so I had to stop at a store to buy power banks and adapt my phone to the bike in order to continue following the track.”

In most of his many past podium places, Alberto has collected his medal wearing his T shirt which reads ‘No Como Animales’ – ‘I don’t Eat Animals’.

The gruelling event threatened to stop Alberto continuing, although he reminded himself why he competes.

“I had a photo of a piglet on my bike to remind me that if I’m suffering, the animals suffer even more — and I must keep going for them, to show that veganism is compatible with both health and performance.”

Alberto adds this fantastic performance to his many breathtaking events including ultramarathons, mountain running and extreme cycling both on and off road.  Over recent years he has continued to record epic results and is pleased to show that eating non vegan food is completely unnecessary.