Speeding along a road in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, Fariba Hashimi rises out of the saddle of her £15,000 bike and works the pedals even harder to close the gap between her and her sister, Yulduz, a few metres up ahead.
Training rides like this are the last steps on a journey that began with the two siblings from rural Afghanistan racing in disguise on borrowed bikes, before having to escape when the Taliban came to power.
Now they’re on their way to the Olympic Games in Paris. And, despite a Taliban ruling banning women from sport, they will compete under their country’s flag.
Uphill challenge
In a world where many elite athletes take up sport almost as soon as they can walk, Fariba, 21, and Yulduz, 24, came late to cycling.
They grew up in Faryab, one of the most remote and conservative provinces in Afghanistan, where it was practically unheard of to see women on bicycles.
Fariba was 14 and Yulduz 17 when they saw an advert for a local cycle race and decided to take part.
There were two problems; they didn’t have a bike and they didn’t know how to ride.
The sisters borrowed a neighbour’s bike one afternoon. After a few hours, they felt they had got the hang of it.
Their next challenge was to avoid their family finding out what they were doing because of the stigma around women taking part in sport in conservative areas of Afghanistan.
The sisters used false names and covered themselves up, wearing big baggy clothing, large headscarves and sunglasses so people didn’t recognise them.
Race day dawned, and incredibly the sisters came first and second.
“It felt amazing,” says Fariba. “I felt like a bird who could fly.”
