‘Paris-Brest-Paris might not, technically, be a ‘race’, but there’s no getting away from the fact that John and Ann Jurczynski have dominated the tandem category since they first took their place on the start line in 2015. That year, they were almost 17 hours ahead of their nearest rival.
At the next edition in 2019, they were eight hours ahead of the field. This year, they scored the hat-trick, again coming in eight hours ahead of the nearest tandem pair. They’ve proved, again and again, that regardless of their age – John and Ann are 66 and 59 respectively – they’re one of the most effective tandem teams in the world.
GCN caught up with the pair a few hours before the start of Paris-Brest-Paris 2023. Reclined in a deep outdoor sofa outside their hotel, their cheeks still glowing from a splendid continental breakfast, John and Ann sat with a quiet sense of confidence and ease. The scene was so relaxed and comfortable, it was hard to imagine that in a few hours, and for the next few days and nights, their sole front light would cast its harsh beam through the dark planes of northern France, night after night, as they rode through pain, exhaustion and hunger.
Only when they began to talk did you get a sense of what John and Ann are capable of. During our conversation, glimmers emerged of that streak that separates ultra-endurance athletes from the rest of us. They might have looked perfectly harmless as we sat around sipping coffee, but these two riders have an unshakeable drive, forged through storied lives. For John and Ann, ultra-distance cycling is their way of living life on their own terms, and besides broken bones, few things will keep them from pedalling…’
