Two passionate French soccer supporters are bicycling from Paris to Doha to support the current world champions at the World Cup in Qatar, which begins next month.
Since leaving the Stade de France on August 20, documentary filmmaker Mehdi Balamissa and TV producer Gabriel Martin have cycled over 5,000 kilometers.
The two intend to finish their arduous trek before France’s opening match against Australia on November 22 after getting the idea while cycling to Italy for a Nations League game last year.
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“With this trip we are able to promote sustainable mobility, another way of travelling and we can show people that with your legs it can give you so many adventures around your place or maybe further,” 26-year-old Balamissa told Reuters.
The cyclists, who are covering 120km a day, arrived in Jordan this week and will next cross Saudi Arabia before reaching Doha.
Martin said that tackling different terrains on the three-month long trip was a formidable task.
“The main challenge is to cover a huge distance. Sometimes it is flat but sometimes it is climbing a lot,” he told Reuters.
France, drawn in Group D, will also face Denmark and Tunisia.
“Gabriel and I, we would not be on our bicycles at the moment in Jordan if we did not think that France would win the World Cup,” added Balamissa.
