Concrete, camaraderie, and clever timetables. From the mass start at Herne Hill Velodrome to a rain soaked sprint at Tallinn’s Linnahall, one hundred and sixty racers took on a week of brutalist checkpoints and crafty detours. The route began with a shuffle to Brussels, then split through Freiburg, Regensburg, or Prague, before pulling everyone toward Berlin for The Layover with Jack’s Flight Club. From there, teams chose between the Baltic Dash through Katowice and Kaunas or a longer Scandi loop that tempted the big points hunters toward Sweden and Finland. This is how the race unfolded, day by day.
A sunny send off at Herne Hill Velodrome, then the first great sort. One hundred and sixty racers left London bound for Brussels and the first checkpoint, with the maps unlocking as trackers ticked across the Channel. As ever, the first split happened quickly once the capital faded behind, some aiming straight for Belgium, others already thinking two and three moves ahead toward the southern Germany and Czechia options that gate the flow to Berlin.
A handful could not resist a cultural pit stop before the race proper. Trackers lit up at Wembley Stadium as a small group ducked in to catch Oasis live, then rolled on north and east with a grin. Jealous, yes, us too.
As Brussels came and went, the early country counters started to fan out. We saw Wes T pop up in Breda and Kirill just above him in Roosendaal. Others made the classic Aachen, Liège, Maastricht loop that has become a familiar early play. Meanwhile Henry G and Reuben G, Andrew M, and DominoAdventure swung south for a tactical sweep into Paris, a smart early grab for the country counting race. The speed merchants looked set to push through Köln, then decide on Freiburg, Regensburg, or Prague for the second checkpoint.
Day 1, Evening picture
Regular racer Bram H showed on our map passing Frankfurt, with Gabriel P tracking toward Regensburg or perhaps Prague. Henry and Reuben, Andrew M, and Martin W appeared around Strasbourg, likely setting up for Freiburg. That trio looked like our front of the pack for pure speed, with Bram hovering close enough to strike with his folding bike in tow.
Day 2, Berlin and beyond
Through the night and into the morning, a string of teams converged on Berlin, hunting the Bierpinsel and collecting photos for checkpoint evidence. We had Bram, Andrew M, Henry and Reuben, and Martin W threading different lines through the optional stops. No single strategy had the clear edge yet. From Berlin, the road stretched long toward Poland and the east.
DominoAdventure peeled away briskly for The Detourist remote checkpoint. Would he be the first to tag it and still make Tallinn? In the country counting race, things were tight and cagey, with returning racers Moriarty and Fernando P nudging ahead on seven points. For Lowest Spend, Siiri from Finland, our previous champion, set an early benchmark of fourteen pence per kilometre.
Day 2, Afternoon update
As our finish team flew east to get positioned in Tallinn, the race pressed on. Moriarty led on nine, with Ben Packman and Fernando P on eight. At the front of the race, Henry and Reuben, Martin W, and Andrew M punched through Katowice, the UFO like Spodek arena standing guard over the plaza. Gabriel P was chasing. News came in that DominoAdventure had reached The Detourist. We also had our first Daily Challenge winners, Graeme T and Yolanda, for keen eyes on buses and weather signs.
Day 2, Night update
The breakaway firmed up, five strong. Henry and Reuben, Martin W, Andrew M, and now Bram back in the mix. Henry and Reuben had a hair’s edge on our GPS map. We expected a finish the following afternoon or evening.
There was no clear leader in the country counting race, several teams clustered on ten. Many grabbed the Heligoland bonus, Germany’s only island, worth two bonus country points. Others turned south for San Marino and the Vatican, while a few cast their eyes at the Balkans. It was wide open.
Day 3 to Day 4, Provisional top ten and midweek twists
By Tuesday morning we had a provisional top ten for the finish order based on local arrival times, with Bram in first, Reuben and Henry joint second, then a tight line behind with Viktor C leading the young racers, David C, Andrew M, Fadzai M, Zainab A, and a tie for ninth with Catherine N and Matthew N. Invigilation started the same day for the fastest finisher category.
Midweek brought fresh drama in the country counting race. Fernando swung west to tick off Norway, then pivoted back toward Norrköping. John M looked east, then doubled back up the Scandi leg. Siiri drifted down the spend leaderboard as new thrifty racers emerged deeper into the route. The People’s Choice public vote presented by FlixBus also went live midweek, with voters grabbing a FlixBus discount code.
Later on Wednesday, the Scandi oddities piled up. After bagging Norway and Öland, Fernando surprised everyone by turning south. The pack just behind, John M, Shang Kai H, Tim V, and Moriarty, hovered one point back on eighteen. Moriarty nipped to Bornholm for the island bonus, already visited by Omied, Mat, and Jack. Rhianna swung north again after a bold run through the Balkans as far as Macedonia. In Lowest Spend, totals kept shifting, but the spend per kilometre picture started to stabilise with front runners including Gabriel P and Siiri, with others close.
Day 5, The end is nigh
With a day and a half to go before Saturday’s cut off, the country counting fight was still neck and neck. John M showed a creative line on our maps. After reaching Tallinn from the Helsinki ferry, he did not pause. He bounced south through the Baltics gathering late country points. Tim and Shang Kai were still in Gotland, waiting on the well timed ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. In Lowest Spend, it looked like Gabriel P might have held his lead as others pushed into the Baltics where costs can rise on long hops.
Finish in Tallinn
Tallinn delivered a finale worthy of the week. The first three to the finish line crossed within hours after an intense coach race up through Estonia. Bram and the team of Reuben and Henry were locked in a final battle through the outer districts of the city. As the coaches entered the suburbs, Bram was able to hop off early in Pääsküla, cutting direct to the Maarjamäe Memorial checkpoint at the concrete hands that match our shirts, then ran on to the pop up finish under the Linnahall steps. Clad in full Dutch orange, he crossed the line right as a biblical downpour hit. Nature cued the celebration.
Fastest Finishers
The top places were settled after invigilation of evidence.
Winner, Fastest Finisher: Bram H, also winner of the People’s Choice Award presented by FlixBus.
Top ten highlights: Viktor C was our leading young racer on the day, with Dave C, Andrew M, Fadzai M, Zainab A, Catherine N, and Matthew N all landing strong times.
Points Category, Country counters
This was the most creative country battle we have seen so far. Early on, many chased the tried and true loop in the Low Countries, then sprinted to Berlin. After that, choices exploded.
Winner: Rhianna (see map). A brave early sweep into the Balkans, touching Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia, then the long drive north to Finland and across to Estonia. The map line told the story, a zig that became a zag, then a straight line home.
Close rivals: Fernando P hit Norway, then looped back through Sweden and Öland. John M reached Tallinn from Helsinki, then ran the board south through the Baltics to squeeze every last point before the cut off. Moriarty added Bornholm for a valuable island bonus. Shang Kai H and Tim V were in the fight through Sweden and Finland with delicate ferry timings and scraped across the finish line just before the cut-off.
Lowest Spend
The spend category ebbed and flowed, especially once racers entered the Baltics where decisions around overnight travel, ferries, and long coach legs could swing totals. After a very efficient run and a cool head on connections, the benchmark at the end belonged to Gabriel P with a travel spend of just under £158.
Novelty awards
The Detourist: Luke A. First to reach the finish line after also hitting the remote Panorama Hotel in Štrbské Pleso, then carry that momentum to Tallinn. He tagged the bonus checkpoint in Slovakia, then crossed the finish to seal it. A stylish line and a popular win. Shout out to Domino Ireland who made it to The Detour first!
The Wilson: Luke A again. A week sprinkled with mishaps, near misses, and a stubborn refusal to quit, which made his Detourist win even sweeter.
People’s Choice Award presented by FlixBus: Bram H. A public vote that gathered steam through the week, topped off by that finish line dash in the rain. Chapeau.
Daily Challenges ran at midday UK time and produced some lovely side stories. Early wins went to Graeme T and Yolanda, later to Kathryn T for a rapid Underground station snap in Helsinki, and a whole cast besides.
Thank you
Thanks to Jack’s Flight Club for The Layover evenings in Berlin, to FlixBus for the public vote and travel support, and to Visit Tallinn for the warm welcome. Thanks to our event team on the ground and to everyone who followed along on the story updates all week. Until next time, rest the legs, clean the maps, and get ready for the start line!
