Nine cyclists lifted a glider into the air using only the power of their legs

Nine riders made history by becoming the first cyclists to lift a glider using only leg power. The team accelerated to 54 km/h and maintained an average power of 650 watts for 90 seconds to launch pilot Andy Hediger and his glider into the sky.

Chief Engineer Dan Bigham oversaw the operation: like teammates in a harness, the riders maintained a perfectly straight line as they accelerated and lifted the lightweight glider into the air. Bigham's primary concern was how to distribute the effort among all nine cyclists so that the entire group would remain in sync as they pushed themselves to the limit on the runway at the Mallorcan airport.

In the end, Florian Lipowitz, Callum Thornley, David Donati, Nico Denz, Jordi Muis, Tim van Dijk, Laurenz Piti, Gijs Schoonvelde and Adrien Boichis succeeded and Andy Hediger took to the air.