French cyclist Sofiane Sehili has been released by a Russian court after being detained for seven weeks on suspicion of illegally crossing the country’s border.
Sehili, 44, is an endurance cyclist and had been embarking on an attempted world record ride across Eurasia when he was detained on September 4, 2025.
A Primorye court in east Russia said in a statement that Sehili had provided a full admission of guilt, been freed from custody and was excused from paying a fine of 50,000 rubles (£460; $615 at current rates).
“The measure of restraint in the form of detention was canceled, Sophian (sic) Sehili was released and from custody in the courtroom,” the court said.
The court added Sehili’s bike had been returned to him upon his release, alongside “a foreign passport, a copy of an e-visa, an e-book, two mobile phones, a video camera and a navigator.”
The court said the cyclist had been found guilty of “committing a crime under Part 1 of Article. 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”, which relates to crossing the Russian border without the valid documentation or without obtaining a permit. This carries a fine of up to 200,000 rubles, or “compulsory labour” or “deprivation of liberty” for up to two years.
Sehili was pictured in his cycling shoes behind bars in custody before his release. Due to the time already spent in detention, Sehili was deemed exempt from paying the fine.
The Ussuri District Court had extended Sehili’s detention on September 30 and the Primorsky Regional Court said on October 9 an appeal against his detention had been rejected.
The Frenchman was attempting to cycle from Lisbon in Portugal to Vladivostok, a port city in the far east of Russia. The world record was set by Jonas Deichmann in 2017, who completed the challenge in 64 days, two hours and 26 minutes.
Sehili set off on July 1 and had been posting regular updates on social media. His final Instagram post on September 1 showed him cycling through China and taking in days 60, 61 and 62 of the challenge as he closed in on Vladivostok.
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