The race 11,500 kilometres in 100 days, from Cairo to Cape Town. This is the Tour d'Afrique. On roads, lanes, gravel tracks, through sand and rain forests, in gleaming heat and nocturnal cold - with people everywhere standing alongside the road to watch the bikers. Over 35 bicyclists will travel across Africa from January 2004 to May 2004. One of them is Swiss: Armin Köhli. He will be the first physically handicapped and ultra-distance biker to contest this race across Africa. The program The race starts on 17 January in Cairo, Egypt. Bikers that can reach the goal will arrive four months later in Cape Town, South Africa on 15 May. On the way, bikers will cross Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Daily routine The mountain bike will be the companion for four months. The bikers will spend their nights in a tent. After a long day under the African sun, happy at having survived another day, the bikers will put up their tents at night. Even the bicycle might need a complete overhaul: pump the tyres, replace a spoke, or grease the gearshift once again. Contact with the local population will be important. They would want to know why 35 sportspersons with muscle power are riding through the continent with bicycles and are not taking the bus or car. It is the duty of the racers to promote the bicycle as an alternate, durable means of transportation. The challenge Power, condition, stamina, speed, mental strength: These are irreplaceable requirements for contesting the race. However, the Tour d'Afrique should not be only a physical challenge. The participants want to propagate mobility: they want to travel the continent only using muscle power - and not using polluting engines like in the Paris-Dakar race. The "other" side Tour d'Afrique is also about getting to know the other side of the African continent: diseases such as AIDS/HIV and malaria, civil wars and regional conflicts, poverty and land mines. The Swiss biker, Armin Köhli, who is participating as the first handicapped sportsman, wants to draw attention to the suffering caused by UXO and land mines: "By far the biggest cause of amputations in the Third World is mine accidents." Against land mines With his participation, Armin Köhli would like to help by raising awareness about the dangers from mines. Here, in Switzerland, he calls on the public for the support of two specialised organisations: The FSD (Swiss foundation for Mine Action), and Geneva Call (an international humanitarian organization dedicated to engaging Non State Actors).