Nine Riders. One Airplane. A World First.
Nine riders from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe just made history, becoming the first cyclists to tow a plane into flight using pure human power.
The team hit 54km/h and averaged 650 watts over a 90-second all-out effort to launch pilot Andy Hediger and his airplane into the sky.
Engineering mastermind Dan Bigham guided the operation as the riders stayed locked together in a specially designed harness, holding a perfectly straight line while delivering maximum power. The challenge? Balancing the forces between all nine cyclists to keep the group unified during the intense effort.
A groundbreaking moment where cycling meets aviation—powered entirely by human effort.
The riders:
Florian Lipowitz
Callum Thornley
Davide Donati
Nico Denz
Jordi Meeus
Tim Van Diyke
Laurence Pithie
Gijs Schoonvelde
Adrien Boichis