No break this summer for Jorge Martin: 876km in seven days for the MotoGP leader

MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin may officially be on his summer holiday from his day job, but that doesn’t only equal days on the beach.

Martin is an avid cyclist, his love for the sport highlighted in 2025 when he used the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) rainbow on his helmet to signify the world champion status he earned in 2024.

In the same way that only the reigning champion in MotoGP is entitled to run the number one plate in the following season, the UCI Road World Championships from one year determine who can wear the rainbow on their jersey in the following season.

Martin isn’t the only motorcycle racer to have adorned his helmet design with the UCI rainbow after winning a title; Alvaro Bautista did the same after his 2022 and 2023 WorldSBK title successes with Ducati, for example.

But few motorcycle racers back up their enjoyment of cycling and respect for the sport by competing in gruelling stage races through some of Europe’s most notorious mountain ranges.

Martin, though, took on the Trans-Pyrenees bicycle race last week, taking on a total of 876km, mostly through the roads on the Spanish side of the mountain range although the route – which took riders from Roses to San Sebastian – included some border crossings into southern France.

In total, Martin took 31 hours to complete the seven stages. 

The Trans-Pyrenees is an event organised by the TransIberica Ultracycling club, and isn’t one that is specifically organised as a race – there is no explicit recognition or prize for the rider who completes in the fastest time, the goal is simply to complete the stages.

For Jorge Martin it meant an extreme part of his mid-season preparation, just a couple of weeks before he returns to the track with Aprilia Racing as the MotoGP championship leader at Silverstone where he will defend a 14-point advantage over Ai Ogura.