Here's what you need to know about Victor Bosoni, the 24-year-old rider who just won Tour Divide

A new name just forced its way into the ultra cycling conversation. 24-year-old Frenchman Victor Bosoni won the 2026 Tour Divide, a 4,500 kilometre ultra-ride between Banff, Canada, and Antelope Wells on the border between Mexico and the United States. And he did it in a record time of 11 days, 8 hours, and 27 minutes. But who is this young Frenchman, whom Laurens Ten Dam dubbed an “ultra-god”?

Bosoni was born on September 27, 2001, in Dijon and grew up in the Jura region. He took up cycling at a young age—not so much for the competitive aspect, but more to see where his bike could take him. Nevertheless, thanks to his talent, he found his way onto the French amateur circuit, riding for teams such as SCO Dijon and CC Etupes.

There, he also competed in major junior races such as the Tour de Pays du Vaud and Ain Bugey Valmerey, but even at a young age, he realized that the tactical aspect of road cycling didn’t really appeal to him. Although Bosoni undeniably has the power to go far, he decided—after some initial doubts during the COVID-19 pandemic—to choose adventure instead.

That was also partly due to a genetic condition that caused a testosterone deficiency. Because of that deficiency, Bosoni isn’t very good at short sprints that require a lot of power, but it doesn’t hold him back when riding hard over longer distances. And that happens to be exactly what you need in a race like the Tour Divide.

For him, this adventure meant ultra-racing, a discipline that even someone like Ten Dam had become increasingly passionate about in recent years. After learning the ins and outs of this specific discipline, the NorthCape4000 was one of his first races. Bosoni rode the 4,400 kilometers between Turin and the North Cape in eleven days, but was disqualified... because he arrived before the minimum time limit.

In 2024, he competed in the Transcontinental, which was held that year between Roubaix and Istanbul. Along the way, Bosoni lost his passport, forcing him to cycle an additional 550 kilometers through the Alps. Despite this, he finished 24th in Turkey. The following year, when the race was held between Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Costantia in Romania, he won by a landslide.

In 2025, he also won the Traka 560 for the first time. He rode so fast—in a single day—that no one else had even reached the finish line yet. Meanwhile, he’s also pioneering a different kind of ultra-racing in several ways. Whereas races used to be won by riders who simply slept very little and cycled a lot, the Frenchman chooses to ride hard while still getting a decent amount of sleep.

That’s how Bosoni approached the Tour Divide as well, sleeping roughly five to six hours a night in relatively nice hotels—including even a Marriott. He also takes a different approach to nutrition: for example, he stocked up on jars of peanut butter at gas stations to consume as much as possible as quickly as possible.

The reason? On a long-distance ride like the Tour Divide, your body mainly runs on fat, and peanut butter just happens to contain a lot of—healthy—fats. Although he, too, picked up Pringles, beef jerky, Haribo, and other treats at gas stations along the American long-distance route, in addition to plenty of energy gels.

With that strategy, Bosoni—sponsored by Rapha and Factor, among others—also dominated the Tour Divide, with a staggering lead of around 600 kilometers—out of a total of 4,500—over second-place Ten Dam. And yet the race didn’t start well for him at all. Bosoni missed his start and set off about 20 minutes later, but rode to the front of the race in no time.

Ten Dam also mentioned that the young Frenchman “flew past” him in the opening phase. That would turn out to be the last time he—and everyone else—saw Bosoni. He was riding his gravel bike, by the way, whereas many other participants, such as Ten Dam, choose to ride mountain bikes in this rugged part of the U.S.

Bosoni had thoroughly studied Robin Gemperle’s winning run from 2025, set in a seemingly unbeatable time—and managed to shave even more time off it. Even after his false start, things didn’t go well: he ran into bad luck and lost a few hours, but was taken in at Brush Mountain Lodge and, after polishing off a stack of pancakes, was able to continue with renewed motivation.

Just like Ten Dam, Bosoni kept his Instagram followers updated on his progress with daily posts. In them, he also shared his “secret” to his race. “The decision to sleep well and eat a lot is starting to pay off. On such a long adventure, that’s really the key: taking the time to recover properly, eat well, and sleep well. Sometimes the best way to go far is to take it easier, so you can come back stronger,” said the Frenchman.

With 600 kilometers to go, he decided to ease off a bit. “After so many days of racing, the goal is no longer to push too hard or try the impossible. With the lead I have now, I’d rather play it smart, play it safe, and manage everything wisely until the end. It would be reckless to try to do it all at once right now. In an adventure like this, respecting your limits is also a key part of success.”

Still, Bosoni’s abilities seemed boundless over the past week and a half. In the end, Bosoni, who, at 24, is much younger than most participants, completed his Tour Divide in 11 days and about 10 hours. for context, Gemperle took 11 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes to finish it in 2025.