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Justinas Leveika is a Lithuanian ultracyclist known for his impressive endurance feats in ultra-distance cycling events. He has gained global recognition in the ultracycling community for pushing the limits of human endurance in unsupported ultracycling races doing it all with a smile and cake eating exploits.
Biography
editBorn in Lithuania in 1989, Justinas spent his first eight years in a small town of Žagarė. His family then moved to Šiauliai where he finished school. He studied nursing at Vilnius University graduating in 2013. Justinas Learned Norwegian and in 2014 moved to Bergen, Norway to work as a nurse. He relocated to Oslo (2015), Tynset (2016) and finally - Tolga (2020) where he currently resides.[1]
Cycling career
editStarted cycling as form of sport in 2016 with aim of becoming a member of the mountain bike (MTB) team in Tynset. Three years later, In 2019, he managed that and became a member of Team Ahlsell Cube - a UCI licensed MTB team. Even though he had an elite cycling license, he was still working full time as a Manager-Nurse in a long-term care home in Kvikne, Tynset kommune. During this "pro" year notable results included: achieving 12th place overall together with his team mate Eirik Fiskvik at Trans Alp bike challenge, a 7 stage MTB race in the Alps. Finishing 2nd overall in Glacier 360, a four stage race in Iceland together with Per Butingsrud Aas-Eng. Finishing 5th at the Lithuanian national championships in the cross country marathon, olympic cross country and cyclocross.
In 2020, team Ahlsell Cube folded due to Covid and Justinas undertook his first bikepacking trips in Norway. The most notable being a 24 hour ride, covering a distance of 700 km and climbing 8 455m[2] of elevation. It was this ride, noticed by a friend, Borja Gascon, which led to Justinas being invited by Borja, to his first ultra race - the 2021 Transpyrenees.
2022 was a breakthrough year for Justinas, when he achieved his first international victory in the Race around Rwanda. Once he had broken through, many more succsesses followed. Another high-point in 2022 was the Three Peaks bike race that crosses the Alps from Vienna, Austria to Nice, France. He won that convincingly. The 2022 would end with disappointment - due to Covid, Atlas Mountain race was moved from its original spot of February to October. While leading the race, at kilometer 800 out of 1100 Justinas crashed, sustaining serious injuries which forced him to withdraw from the competition.
2023 - was the year Justinas did not step of the podium. Every race in which he participated, he achieved a top three place. In Tour Divide Justinas suffered major technicall issues and other bad luck, however, these didn't stop him from finishing 2nd. In Silk Road mountain race he became unwell, but battled through to complete the race and finish 3rd.
2024 - saw Justinas deliver potentially, the best season in bikepacking history to date. It was exemplified by Justinas winning races, beating long standing records and dominating bikepacking Triple Crown[3] challenge. He started the season early, in January, with another appearance at Fat Viking (150 km fatbike race in Geilo, Norway) and a win. Justinas then went on to tackle the Atlas Mountain Race, Morocco again, taking the win that evaded him the previous year. Going back to Tour Divide, Justinas not only won, but set new fastest known time of 13 days 2 hours and 16 minutes, taking over 20 hours off the course record that had stood since 2016, set by the legendary Mike Hall. He then tackeld the second race of the Triple Crown Challenge, the Colorado Trail Race (845 km/ 527 miles from Denver to Durango, USA). After suffering a potentially race-ending wheel brake and hitch-hiking a car to Leadville to fix it, an asterisk was placed next to his time, due to not following the rules (or the FAQs as it was listed at the time of racing). Despite being first over the line, the win went to the second fastest finisher Xavier Chiriboga from Ecuador. The last dance of the season, and final race of the coveted Triple Crown Challenge, would be in Arizona. The Arizona Trail Race (1,287 km/ 800 miles with 24,500 m elevation, from Mexico to Utah), arguably the hardest of the three Triple Crown races is renown for it's rough terrain, torturous 23 mile stretch of the Grand Canyon where riders are forced to carry their bikes, and extreme temperaturs. As well as winning the 2024 race, Justinas is the first person to complete it in under 8 days, finishing in 7 days, 19 hours and 48 minutes. In total, he has spent 25 days, 5 hours and 21 minutes to finish the three Triple Crown Races and has beaten the record (held by Jay Petervary) that has stood since 2015, by two and a half days.
Race results starting from 2021
edit| Year | Race | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Transpyrenees (by Transiberica) | 4th | |
| 2021 | Transiberica | 3rd | |
| 2021 | Badlands | 5th | |
| 2022 | Gran Guanche road | 3rd | |
| 2022 | Race Around Rwanda[4] | 1st | |
| 2022 | Classics Story the Northern Way | 1st | |
| 2022 | Traka 360 | 6th | |
| 2022 | A bike race Roughly the size of Wales | 1st | |
| 2022 | Madrid to Barcelona by Pedalma | 2nd | in pairs with Borja Gascon |
| 2022 | The Three Peaks bike race | 1st | |
| 2022 | Badlands | 4th | |
| 2022 | La Monegrina Classics divide | 1st | |
| 2022 | Atlas Mountain race | DNF | Crashed out |
| 2023 | Fat Viking | 1st | |
| 2023 | Atlas Mountain race | 2nd | |
| 2023 | Gran Guanche gravel | 1st | |
| 2023 | Dales Divide | 1st | |
| 2023 | Dead ends and Dolci | 2nd | |
| 2023 | Seven Serpents | 1st | |
| 2023 | Tour Divide[5] | 2nd | |
| 2023 | Silk Road Mountain race | 3rd | |
| 2024 | Fat Viking | 1st | |
| 2024 | Atlas Mountain Race[6] | 1st | |
| 2024 | Spider Human | 1st | |
| 2024 | Desertus Bikus | 9th | |
| 2024 | Race Across Italy | 2nd | |
| 2024 | Le Man gravel challenge | 1st | |
| 2024 | Tour Divide[7] | 1st | |
| 2024 | Colorado Trail[8] | 1st | 1st over the line but not the winner. |
| 2024 | Badlands | 18th | |
| 2024 | Arizona Trail[9] | 1st |
The Bright Midnight creator
editThe Bright Midnight was born after Justinas crashed out of the 2022 Atlas Mountain. He returned home injured and was unable to ride his bike. The idea of 'no night' got him thinking about all the landscapes and views that he has missed because of racing in the darkness - the Bright Midnight challenge was born. Justinas combined the training loops he regularly rides into a single challenge, whichstarts and finishes at his, now, "home" town Tolga. The inaugural Bright Midnight challenge was held in 2023 and has become an annual event, run in July. It is an event that has attracted many ultra cyclists to test their limits and explore Norway, and has attracted competitors from across the globe.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Slaugos namų vadovas dviračiu įveikia įspūdingas trasas | Šiaulių kraštas". www.skrastas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "#parallels24". Strava. 2020-06-20. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "bikepacking.net > Triple Crown of Bikepacking". Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "Dviračiu į pergalę – per žaliąją tūkstančio kalvų Ruandą | Šiaulių kraštas". www.skrastas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Watts, Logan (2023-06-24). "Congrats to Justinas Leveika, Second-Place Finisher in the 2023 Tour Divide". BIKEPACKING.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Arbour, Miles (2024-02-14). "Justinas Leveika Wins 2024 Atlas Mountain Race". BIKEPACKING.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Horanyi, Eszter (2024-06-27). "Justinas Leveika Wins 2024 Tour Divide, Setting New Record Time!". BIKEPACKING.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Watts, Logan (2024-08-16). "Xavier Chiriboga Wins the 2024 Colorado Trail Race". BIKEPACKING.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Horanyi, Eszter (2024-10-25). "Justinas Leveika Wins Arizona Trail 800 (AZT800)". BIKEPACKING.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "The Bright Midnight – Unsupported Bikepacking through Norwegian highlands and fjords". brightmidnight.cc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.