Spotted on Strava: Two Epic Tours, Western States 100 & Glastonbury

From the Tour de France to the Tour Divide by way of the Western States 100, and the UK's biggest music festival, there's been plenty to keep us entertained on Strava this week.

After just three days, the 2024 Tour de France has already thrown up enough storylines to keep Netflix's Unchained going for at least another year. Whether you were beguiled by the romance of Romain Bardet's Stage 1 win (and first-time in yellow), debutante Kevin Vauquelin's impressive breakaway on Stage 2, or Biniam Girmay's history-making ride on Stage 3, there's already been a host of compelling stories. And then came Stage 4. Tadej Pogačar delivered an impressive performance on a fearsome Stage, taking an iconic KOM on the Galibier, the maillot jaune, and laying down an ominous marker for the rest of the field...

Needless to say, away from the Tour, there have been a host of incredible things happening on Strava. Over in the US, for instance, Katie Schide took an impressive win at Western States 100 (15:46:57). Schide was on track to break the course record until the closing stages of the race, instead registering a PR that was an hour faster than her 2023 time. In the men's race, Jim Walmsley won his fourth Western States (14:13:45) ahead of a frantic sprint finish between Rod Farvard and Hayden Hawks, Farvard finishing 16 seconds ahead of Hawks.

Sticking with epic races over in the US, the Tour Divide wrapped up (for some), with Justinas Leveika finishing the race/adventure in 13 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes. Ulrich Bartholmoes came in second overall (if you want to check out the enormity of the challenge, see his activity record here). Meanwhile, Canada's Meaghan Hackinen not only finished as the first woman (seventh overall) but set a new race record of 15 days and 23 hours.

It's safe to say that finishing a Tour de France, Tour Divide, or the Western States takes a fair amount of stamina. So does surviving three days at Glastonbury - the UK's legendary music festival. This year, alongside the music and partying, the Ravers2Runners Strava Club arranged a lap of Worthy Farm for any festival goers who fancied an early morning workout. 500 people signed up, did the lap, enjoyed a rave warm-down, and then got back to the serious business of... partying.

And, finally, it's been a busy week for Strava Artists around the world. Tadashi Kau ran this impressive image of a 'woman with the flag' in Tokyo, Vlad Borisov drew this Tour de France-esque bike in Brooklyn, Jonathan Reitsma celebrated Canada Day, and Adya Das cycled around Toronto to create a giant dinosaur.