‘I think I let Cyprus down’

The island was behind him. But he couldn’t deliver. Here’s what went wrong...

Last May, thousands of you read George’s story!

Just 19 years of age, he was about to set off for the most gruelling top-tier bike race in the world – France’s notorious Mountain of Hell.

It’s a race where bones are broken, bikes are wrecked, and only the bravest make it to the finish line. So whether or not he would return in one piece was a matter of considerable speculation.

Across the island, hundreds started to follow his journey on social media: rallying behind him with messages of support, words of encouragement, and contributions to his crowdfunding campaign.

But when the big day came, the young Mr Kouzis didn’t race. He didn’t even cross the starting line. Here’s what went so wrong…

In June 2024, as the world-famous bike race approached, rain began to fall over the French Alps.

At first, it was gentle; a soft drizzle that clung to the peaks. But day by day, hour by hour, the downpour intensified. Rivers swelled. Snowmelt surged down the mountainsides. Landslides hurtled down the slopes. Roads were blocked. And the trails – once carved for speed – disappeared beneath torrents of water.

George was already at Les Deux Alpes, the base camp for athletes halfway up the Mountain of Hell. But as race day drew closer, confidence gave way to concern. First, the qualifiers were cancelled – anyone who remained would be allowed to start the final race. Then the lifts failed.

“Each day, I’d push my bike thousands of feet up the mountain in the hammering rain,” says George. “It was the only way I could learn the course. The only way I could keep going. So I woke, I trained, I practised – waiting, hoping for the all clear…”

It never came. The morning before the race, as emergency services airlifted people from what was billed as ‘the region’s worst flood in 10,000 years’, the organisers made their call. The 2024 Mountain of Hell was cancelled. Everyone had to go home.

The race had ended before it began. Halted by something no-one could control: the weather.

“I was devastated!” says George. “Not so much for myself, but for everyone who had supported me. I owed them: they’d paid for me to get there, for my equipment, my registration. I’d called out to the island – and Cyprus had answered. But I didn’t deliver.”

In actuality, everyone understood. This freak weather incident had just come at the wrong time. But George was distraught.

“I’d carried the hopes of my sponsors, my team, everyone back in Cyprus who believed in me. It was all gone. Washed away.”

But here’s the thing about George. He doesn’t give up. Ever.

It’s not just grit. It’s a single-minded focus that has made him one of the few world-class mountain bikers ever to come out of Cyprus; a dedication that has seen him train every day since he was six years old, and fight his way into top level races across Europe.

So when the mountain collapsed, George didn’t.

“I’m not from money,” he admits. “I don’t have connections. I’m just a totally normal guy from Lakatamia. My mum and dad are refugees from Kyrenia. They lost their jobs when the banks collapsed. They survived the economic crisis.

“So there was no back-up – no ‘don’t worry kid, mum and dad will get you there next year’. We’re just an average family, like so many others on this island.”

But, the strength of Cypriot families, George adds, is not in their money. It’s in the way they show up for each other.

“As soon as I’d apologised to my sponsors and supporters, I sat down with my parents. “‘I can’t give up,’ I said. ‘This is bigger than me…’”

George’s parents handed him the keys to their car, an ageing Skoda Yeti. Within a week, he’d caught the ferry to Greece. And with nothing more than a tent, a stove and his bike, George spent the summer driving through 11 countries: sleeping in laybys, eating noodles, racing whenever and wherever he could.

From the high passes of the Alps to the rugged trails of the Balkans, he entered competitions on shoestring fees, arriving alone to represent a country few people in the sport associate with world-class riders.

It was, he admits, a singular experience: humbling, but isolating. It changed him. And it changed his journey. Because, when he arrived back in Cyprus in autumn, something unexpected occurred…

Sponsors had taken notice. They’d seen not just talent, but tenacity. Not just results, but resilience.

“Skoda reached out,” says George. “They’d watched what I’d done, and they loved the way I just kept going. They wanted to help me, help Cyprus be seen in this sport. Show that even a small island can produce world-class riders.”

This year, as Skoda celebrate their 130th anniversary, they’re sending George back out on the road for 130 days. From May to October, he’ll be travelling Europe once more, attending races, living out of a car (this time, a brand-new Skoda Kodiaq!), and bringing Cyprus to places it’s rarely seen in the world of mountain biking.

As he journeys from competition to competition, Portugal to Norway to Austria, George will once more be racing for Cyprus. And, ultimately, he’ll end up exactly where he began last year…

“In 2025, I let Cyprus down,” George says. “I know it wasn’t my fault. But when so many people believe in you, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve failed them. So this year, I’m going to finish what I started.

“I’m going back to the Mountain of Hell. I want to prove that it doesn’t matter where you come from, or how many set-backs you encounter. If you keep showing up, you can do it. And maybe, just maybe, you can take Cyprus with you all the way to the top.”

To follow George’s journey, visit @kouz1son Instagram, k0uz1s on TikTok, or George Kouzis on Facebook