The Norwegian Nordkapp and the Spanish Tarifa in Gibraltar are separated by a distance of almost 7,400 kilometers. Enough even for a car trip. But for Polman, the race was another in a series of ultra-challenges that became his life. He was able to complete the unimaginable stretch in the saddle of a loaded bicycle weighing twenty kilograms in twenty-five days. In addition, from the first moments he built up a lead, which eventually grew to five hundred kilometers on the second Finn, Matti Ainasoja.
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Last Thursday, the native of Nová Paka finally reached Gibraltar within sight of the African coast and was able to send out the message “It’s there!”. He immediately started organizing the transfer home and on Sunday he was greeted by a large group of fans at the Prague airport. But then came the shock: Polman stopped appearing in the results list of the race and was moved to the Unclassified riders category.
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“I felt from the start of the race that I wasn’t a good candidate to win,” Polman shrugs sadly after the performance of his life. What happened?
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The Czech rider writes his adventures into a book, and the sale of books is an integral part of his income. And after successful cooperation during the Race Across America in 2019, he agreed to cooperate with photographer Tadeáš Kopča for this year’s race as well, so that he would have visual documentation available. “Tadeáš went on a camping trip across Europe with his family, with the understanding that they would meet me a few times and take photos. He was also at the start, where he talked about it directly with race organizer Andy Buchs. It didn’t seem like a problem,” says Polman.
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But complications soon arose. “The race is run without support, you have to carry and arrange everything yourself. Accusations began to appear that Tadeáš was giving me unauthorized support. Including the absurd allegation that I slept in his car,” Polman does not understand. “This is a blatant lie. I slept in hotels, I took care of everything myself. Andy met me several times on the route. We preferred not to do video calls while driving,” he says .
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End of suffering. Daniel Polman at the finish of the NorthCape-Tarifa race in Gibraltar.Photo: archive D. Polmana
The turning point came in Switzerland. “The organizer himself warned us not to use mobile data, that it is very expensive. So we had them turned off. And Andy wrote an e-mail to Tadeás that he must immediately stop his activities around the race, otherwise I will be disqualified. But without a data connection, the message did not arrive. In the end, my wife helped and I could conditionally continue,” Polman recounts.
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“In two days I even met Andy on the track and he told me to forget everything and go. But towards the end of the race, I got the impression that they were playing with me like a figure. After the fall, I had to go to the hospital, my handlebars broke. I fixed them and Andy made me replace them completely. Which was a huge complication and another delay. I let him know I didn’t like it,” says Polman.
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In Tarifa, Buchs welcomed the Czech competitor as the winner. “He shook my hand, handed me the finisher’s T-shirt and immediately asked when I was leaving. Srab. You waited until I was in the Czech Republic and then changed the results. It’s disgusting. First class comedy. And unfortunately, probably the biggest injustice I’ve ever experienced. My conscience is clear, I wouldn’t think of doing anything against the rules,” shrugs Polman.
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Filing a protest is said to be pointless. “It is a private enterprise, there is no recourse. And solve it with a civil dispute? I’m coughing,” Polman waves his hand. Regardless of the development of events, the Czech adventurer was looking forward to Monday afternoon, when a great welcome awaited him in Nové Paca. “I’ll enjoy it. Regardless of the circumstances. As the Three Sisters sing, life is like that and there won’t be another,” he concluded optimistically.
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