London Edinburgh London ride 2013 – gallery

At 5am on Friday morning, the seventh 1,419km London Edinburgh London ride finished in the UK capital. Every four years, Audax UK stake a claim for the hardest cycling event in the country with the 881-mile route between the two cities.

At 5.30am on 28 July, 997 riders got underway on The Mall, in central London. The course followed a route up the east coast before coming inland, skirting to the west of the North York Moors, crossing into Scotland near Carlisle, and turning back down south on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Riders pass through checkpoints and have brevet cards stamped to show they have completed the distance. 

The first rider to get back to London – in a swift time of 65 hours (an average speed of 21.8km/h) – was Anco de Jong, from the Netherlands. And spare a thought Drew Buck – dressed in a beret and stripy jersey, he rode a two-speed Hirondelle popular in the early 20th century. He was just over 100 miles from London at lunchtime yesterday.

To get a feel for the London Edinburgh London event, see our image gallery of photos, all taken by Charlotte Barnes.

Riders cross the Humber Bridge in the gloaming