SA cyclist confirms World Record attempt

South African cyclist Tegan Phillips has set her sights on becoming the first woman to complete a 'Cape to Cairo' trip in order to set her own Guinness World Record.

The 29-year-old Cape Town-born law graduate from Rhodes University will embark on her mission in October and plans to cover a total distance of around 11 000km in the space of 70 days.

However, she hopes to complete the mission in closer to 40 days by aiming to ride 250km per day without resting, escorted by two vehicles and security guards. Philips said she would not rest until she breaks the record.

"So, it's difficult to know how much of the conditions of the road, weather and police checks, etc. will slow things down, but the official deadline that's been given by Guinness is 70 days," Phillips told SABC Sport.

"We're aiming for me to ride between 200 and 300 kilometers per day, every day without a break, which will hopefully mean that we can do it quite a bit faster than 70 days, but that is the upper limit. So, I think somewhere between 40-70 [days] will be the aim."

Phillips has an incredible team of backers helping her with crowdfunding and sponsorship to achieve her goal. She is currently looking for a vehicle partner to urgently jump on board.

She will embark on her crazy journey in October and will have a two-vehicle support team, which will include a film crew to capture the journey as she passes through eight different countries.

"I'm going to start cycling from Cairo at the end of October of this year, and I'll have a two-vehicle support team with some film crew and general support crew," she explains.

"The system will be for one vehicle to drive behind me for support, while the other vehicle goes ahead to stops and borders to try and ease those transitions, and make them go as quickly as possible.

"We'll make our way through eight [different] countries as fast as possible, all the way back down to Cape Town. And we'd love to have everyone there to join us when I arrive to the Waterfront."

By Charles Baloyi