Spotted on Strava: Wout's Tour Tease, Epic Bike Races & the Ultimate Morning Run

Wout van Aert teases the Visma Tour de France line-up, Natalie Dau takes a morning run to Singapore (from Thailand), and there's high art being drawn in Brooklyn. These are just some of the things we spotted on Strava this week...

There are plenty of unknowns going into any Tour de France. However, going into this Tour de France there have been two particularly significant unknowns: whether defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and his prodigiously talented teammate Wout van Aert will be on the startline on Saturday June 29. And while only a select few in Team Visma | Lease a Bike know for sure, Wout got plenty of tongues wagging when he posted this activity with a photo of his Visma Parceros [partners] after a training ride in Tignes. And yes, in case you were wondering, Vingegaard is in the picture...

There aren't many bike races that can claim to be as tough as the Tour de France, but there are two going on right now that are certainly in the conversation. Somewhere in the middle of the USA, the Trans Am Bike Race is unfolding. If the 4,184 mile / 6,735 km course from Oregon to Virginia doesn't impress you, maybe the 114k feet / 34.8k meters of vertical will. There are a number of riders pulling some crazy distances right now, and if you want to follow along check out people like Pierre Cautain, Henri Do, or Artie Carpenter.

Did we say two tough races? We did. And the second is arguably just as tough as the first. The Tour Divide attracts some of the most hardened off-road bike pack racers to a 2,745 mile / 4,418 km course that takes in some 200,000 feet / 60.9k meters of elevation gain. Because the route is off-road and, often, true wilderness (with limited cell reception), following along is tricky. However, Tomáš Fabián is posting regular updates from a race where Laurens ten Dam is currently battling it out for the lead with 2023 winner Ulrich Bartholmoes and runner-up Justinas Leveika.

From two wheels to four, and the iconic racing track that is Le Mans. As part of this festival of racing, Charlie Martin was busy steering her Lamborghini Super Trofeo alongside teammate Jason Keats to second position in Race One of the LB Cup Class.

When is a Morning Run not a typical Morning Run? When you decide to run from Thailand to Singapore. Ultrarunner Natalie Dau spent 12 days running the 621 mile / 1000 km route - a record for the 'Fastest Crossing of Peninsular Malaysia on Foot'. As well as battling a hip injury, Natalie also had to contend with extreme heat, which caused her running shoes to melt.

And, finally, we're going to finish this week with a little high-end art. Because while out on a ride around Brooklyn, Karl Chen found himself thinking. And while thinking, he decided to 'draw' a likeness of The Thinker - Rodin's famously contemplative statue. And like the Parisian statue, we think Karl's effort is... spectacular.