French cyclist released by Russian court after record-breaking attempt

A French long-distance cyclist was released by a Russian court after he was found guilty of illegally crossing Russia's border with China.

Sofiane Sehili was taken into custody while trying to break the world record for cycling across the Eurasian region.

Sehili who described himself as an “ultra-endurance racer and adventure cyclist” was also exempted from paying the fine worth 50,000 rouble.

According to the court statement, "The physical evidence in the case: a foreign passport, a copy of an electronic visa, an e-book, two mobile phones, a video camera, a navigator and a bicycle have been returned to their rightful owner.”

As per Sehili’s post on Instagram, he was cycling from China to Russia in early September.

After days, it was revealed that Sehili was arrested in the Far Eastern district of Primorye on the grounds of illegally crossing the border.

Sehili started his record-breaking cycling journey on July 1 near Lisbon while passing through Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and Russia as its final stop.

He was striving to smash the world-record held by Jonas Deichmann from Germany for cycling across Eurasia.

According to Guinness World Records, Deichmann completed his cycling journey in 64 days, 2 hours and 26 minutes.