After his bike trip to Qatar for the World Cup 2022, the 24-year-old Moroccan cyclist Salaheddine Benarym launched an even more ambitious expedition.
On Tuesday, he get on the way From Ushuaia, Argentina, on a remarkable 24,000 km long bicycle trip that will bring him to Alaska in the next two years.
Benarym, a graduate in financial management from IBN Tofail University in Kenitra, plans to expect his trip coordinate With the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, the United States and Canada. “This combines my two great passions: cycling and football,” he said to Map.
The trip is supported by sponsors such as Sidi Ali, BMCI Foundation, Tibu Africa and the national initiative for human development (IndH) and will lead it through 14 countries.
Despite the support, Benarym recognizes his parents’ concerns about the associated risks.
“It is of course for my parents to worry. They are worried, even if I am right in front of our house. So imagine when I am thousands of kilometers in countries that I don’t know yet,” he said.
The Route of Benarym begins dramatically, in the middle of the untamed winds of Argentine and Chilean Patagonia, which looked at the sound for a journey defined by Grit and Size.
He plans cycle Between 80 and 120 kilometers daily and crosses various terrains, including the Andes Mountains, the Atacama desert and the rainforests of Ecuador, Colombia and Panama.
The trip will also serve as an immersive learning experience of language learning. “I will spend a year and a half of Spanish -speaking countries in which I want to improve my Spanish,” said Benarym.
After the 2026 World Cup, his route will continue through the Sonora desert and the American west before reaching Rocky Mountains and ultimately Alaska in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. The entire trip is expected to take two years.
Benarym sees his expedition as more than a personal challenge. “This bears an indirect message to young people: they have to fight for their dreams and never give up when they face challenges,” he said.
The young cyclist, who is famous on social media, takes his thousands of supporters on the journey next to him when he tries to demonstrate that “nothing is impossible”.
Read too: The 70-year-old Moroccan cyclist completes the seven months of Casablanca Beijing bicycle trip
