Hampshire and Dorset couple win 'brutal' Badlands ultra

A couple who won a gruelling 497 mile (800km) cycle race through the Andalusian mountains in Spain have put their success down to how well they worked together.

Danni Shrosbree from Dorset and Bradley Shenton from Hampshire won first pair in the Badlands Ultra-Race on Thursday.

They completed the route in 53 hours and 30 minutes, stopping for five-minute power naps only twice.

Ms Shrosbree said: "We worked well together and we communicated well... at the end of the day I think that's probably why we won."

The couple grappled with temperatures of up to 40C, injury, and a total elevation climb of 52,493ft (16,000m).

They also both suffered hallucinations due to lack of sleep.

Danni had a crash early in the race, but despite damage to her and her bike she was able to continue.

Ms Shrosbree said she knew the race was "a big challenge".

"But it wasn't until I was in it that I realised how brutal it really was," she said.

Mr Shenton said some of the climbs took them three hours.

"You just have to push your body to its limits," he said.

"Your mindset just changes and you just keep chugging away."

Their two sleep breaks consisted of lying on the floor next to their bikes with a five-minute alarm set on their phones.

"It's not like you're making a bed or anything like that," said Mr Shenton.

"You are literally putting your bike against a wall or the floor, and you just lie down... and then you just get up and you go 'let's go again'."

Ms Shrosbree said her partner was "very good at staying patient" throughout the challenge, whilst Mr Shenton said it showed him "what a tough person Danni is".

"The adversity that Danni can go through is pretty special," he said.