14 brave locals took part in the race over 10 kilometres in the harsh conditions, or half this distance for women and veterans. Picture: YSIA

It was so cold that several bikes froze at the start of the race. Contestants also had to contend with thick fog. But 14 brave locals took part in the race over 10 kilometres in the harsh conditions, or half this distance for women and veterans.

Andrey led from the start over the snow, completing the distance in 30 minutes 44 seconds, ahead of Anatoly Alekseyev in 34 minutes 21 seconds.

Among veterans, Vassilyi Matveyev came first in 36 minutes 49 seconds, a shorter ride than his summer achievement of cycling from Vilyuysk in Yakutia, also known as the Sakha Republic, to Moscow, a distance of around 8,000 km.

'The bicycle race turned out to be such a challenge.' Pictures: YSIA

Women's winner was Nelly Pakhomova in 29 minutes 51 seconds, followed by Yugulana Struchkova in 31 minutes 23 seconds. Nelly said: 'The bicycle race turned out to be such a challenge. My bicycle froze, and it was hard to cycle. It was very extreme, thanks to organizers.'

Andrey Popov said: 'You need to dress up so that you don't freeze, because it's easy to turn into a piece of ice in such cold.

'Quite a lot of time has passed since summer bicycle season finished, so I recommend to keep cycling and to train for such races.'