‘With my bike I feel everything ten times better’: Veistroffer sets off on 2,500km charity ride through Vietnam and Cambodia
The rider with the most race days of 2026 is spending his off-season bikepacking, with every kilometre raising money for a cycling charity.
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Baptiste Veistroffer is spending his off-season riding 2,500 kilometres through Vietnam and Cambodia, with two sponsors pledging money to a cycling charity for every kilometre he covers.
The Lotto-Intermarché rider, who raced more days than anyone in the peloton this season, starts in Ho Chi Minh City and heads to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. From there he will ride east across Cambodia, cross back into Vietnam south of Da Nang, and follow the coast back to his starting point over around three weeks.
Ekoï and the Belgian National Lottery have each agreed to donate €1 per kilometre, which would raise up to €5,000 for an association that helps people on low incomes get access to bikes.
“I found two sponsors who agreed to give money for charity for this, and I think it’s good for me to have some visibility for a charity and a movement,” Veistroffer told Domestique.
The French rider finished 2026 with 85 UCI race days, from the Tour Down Under in January to the Tour of Guangxi in October, and crossed Thailand by bike last winter. He says the trips are about seeing the world from the saddle rather than training.
“I really like this kind of trip with my bike, because I love riding my bike so much,” he said. “With my bike, I feel everything ten times better and different from when you take a car. Maybe because you go a bit slower, you feel everything, you hear everything. It’s just me, my bike, and enjoying it.”
Veistroffer only became a full-time professional in 2023, after working as an engineer for the French Navy and racing triathlons. His first professional win came at the Tour of Oman in February, after 183 kilometres in the breakaway, and in July he made his Tour de France debut, spending 144 kilometres alone on stage 5, when other riders did not want to go on the attack.
He expects the trip to set him up for the winter as well as give him a mental break from racing.
“It will take 20 or 21 days,” he said. “It’s good preparation for me before my next training block, and I can just enjoy it and have a mental break. I’m really looking forward to it.”
