Lael Wilcox abandons world record attempt amid heatwave in Europe
Lael Wilcox has been forced to abandon her around-the-world record attempt 14 days after starting the ride in Chicago, Illinois on 7th June. Her support team advised Wilcox to call it after days of battling heat exhaustion, reaching Fontainebleau a little south of Paris before she stopped.
Europe is experiencing its second heat wave of 2026, with temperatures expected to reach 40ºC in parts of southern France this weekend.
Wilcox became the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe in 2024, and this year she planned to take on Mark Beaumont's 2017 record. But the conditions conspired against her.
"We tried to do a lot with a little," she says in her video, speaking about all she'd done to prepare. "You know what, though, I feel fine. It's not the most devastating thing. Like you do things, you try. This one, I feel like it's more of another climate change lesson, which every year I'm having more and more of those...
"We were expecting a big challenge, but not health problems... I don't take enjoyment out of how hard it is. I've just tried to survive, but each day I think, well, this might be the last day, and I guess this is the last day."
