Axel Carion, ultra-cyclist: today’s feats are yesterday’s routine.

Deconstructing the image of cycling to make it accessible

In 2024, the bicycle was the most sold individual means of transport in France, ahead of motorized two-wheelers and even cars. Since the Covid crisis, cycling trips have almost doubled. This is especially visible in major cities: the “little queen” has made a strong comeback that seems here to stay.

We like cycling, that’s true, but mostly as a means of transportation. We use it to go to work or for practical, everyday trips. Cycling as a sport, however, is stagnating. In 2020, 5.5% of French people over the age of 15 said they regularly practiced mountain biking. Road cycling, on the other hand, was practiced by only 1% of the population. The 2024 Olympic Games shone a spotlight on cycling sports, with the French Cycling Federation recording a 20% increase in license holders, particularly in BMX. But with fewer than 20,000 licensees in total, the practice remains far too niche. Why?

Axel Carion’s diagnosis is unequivocal.“We’ve been blinded by the most high-profile cycling competitions. Cycling suffers from the clichés of performance-driven sport. It’s seen as a male discipline, where you have to ride in groups at 50 km/h on very expensive machines. Legendary stories were put into our heads that never really existed. It’s urgent to deconstruct this vision.”

Changing the image of cycling, highlighting different narratives, and offering experiences that challenge the very concept of performance,this is the challenge he has chosen to take on.

Axel Carion’s love at first sight with ultra-cycling

Axel Carion discovered cycle touring and ultra-cycling by diving straight into the deep end.

“I entered the world by crossing Slovakia and Ukraine through the Carpathians over 1,200 km. A real commando-style initiation! I left with a 45 kg bike, my two-second tent, and a huge sleeping bag. I had never slept outside on a bike, never cooked outdoors like that. It was a revelation. That was 15 years ago, and it slowly derailed my life until I created BikingMan, to pass on what my friends had made me experience back then.”

Axel Carion describes himself as an explorer. What he seeks on expeditions is to experience the link between landscapes and migrations, and to understand why and how human groups move. His passion for terrain and environments grew alongside his practice.
“It was cycling that allowed me to discover incredible places. Pedaling across Peru, for example, let me meet people I would never have encountered through traditional tourist routes. It’s a slower way of traveling. On your bike, you enter the territory literally. You plow the land,” he explains.

However, describing Axel Carion only as a traveler would be reductive, as he is clearly driven by a desire to pass on his passion for cycling and a new vision of performance.

“Technology has blinded us. Yesterday’s daily life is today’s feat. Discovering cultures other than my own by bike made me realize that the living conditions we had just a few decades ago, and that many people around the world still experience, are far more demanding than any sporting performance.

We’ve built an image of cycling centered on competition, even though the bicycle also served as a bridge between horse travel and motorized vehicles. Nineteenth-century cycle tourists accomplished real feats, with porters and camera equipment weighing up to 25 kg. Cycle touring and ultra-cycling are, in fact, a return to our roots.”