Seven days before the final race in the infamously gruelling Mountain of Hell bike race in Les Deux Alpes, France, Cypriot mountain biker George Kouzis was immobilised by an injured knee.

“I had a crash on my bike while practicing in another city,” Kouzis told the Cyprus Mail. “I was losing a lot of blood, and I almost fainted before getting moved to the hospital.”

“And after the stiches, I couldn’t walk.”

One of the most extreme bike races in the world, the Mountain of Hell bike race runs over three days from June 20 to 22 – a day each for a practice run, qualifiers, and finals – and starts in the snow. Competitors need to bike for 25km at an elevation of 2,300m through rocks, dirt and snow, with some bikers moving at 100km/hr.

Kouzis recalled that every time he bent his knee, he was struck by a “horrible pain”, leading him to take painkillers to ride. On the day before the practice race, Kouzis could not pedal at all, saying it was “absolutely impossible” in his state.

But, having missed out on the 2024 competition due to bad weather leading to its cancelation, Kouzis “decided to do the race, even though I knew it was probably not the best idea for my leg.

“I had the package of skills it takes [for the race], and I would get a pretty good position if I had the chance to race,” Kouzis said.

He ended up completing all three days of the Mountain of Hell race, finishing 22nd out of over 900 riders in the final race.

“It was a huge responsibility for me,” Kouzis said, referring to his sponsors, Škoda and Unicars. “I also knew that the race and the format of the race was really, really good for me.

“I had my new bike prepared just for this race,” Kouzis continued. “I really wanted to do it – I owed it to the people, I also owed it to myself, and I really needed to do the race.”

Since May, Kouzis has been living in a car as part of a 130-day challenge sponsored by Škoda to mark the company’s 130th anniversary.

The Mountain of Hell race was one of a number of mountain bike competitions Kouzis is participating in as part of the challenge, which ends in September.

In the following months, Kouzis is scheduled to bike around Cyprus, France, Portugal, Scandinavia, and Greece.