The bandaged right hand of this Spanish cyclist in his hospital bed is proof of the difficulty he was in in freezing Siberia when local men rescued him from his tent in the snow.

Spanish cyclist with frostbite rescued in freezing Siberia

A Spanish cyclist who brought a conventional summer tent on a winter ride across Siberia has been rescued as frostbite was setting in, the Russian media has reported.

Jose Andres Abian Pajares had taken off his glove in -50 degrees conditions but began to suffer frostbite as a result.

Luckily for him, locals came to his rescue as he had stopped on a mountain pass in the middle of the Siberian winter.

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After being rescued he was taken to a hospital in eastern Russia for treatment and recovery.

“It looks like the guy didn’t have a good understanding of what the frosts in Kolyma are like,” an unnamed local government official told the media.

The Spanish cyclist had flown from Moscow to Magadan in early December. He planned to ride 4,700km across Siberia to Lake Baikal despite what the Russian winter was bound to throw at him.

Frostbite erecting tent

He had completed just under 250 miles when he ran into problems. In a bid to put up his tent quicker, he took off his glove.

Frostbite injuries began to set in immediately. However, he managed to get his tent up and took refuge in it.

A small group of local men, who christened the Spaniard Marcus when speaking to the media, came to his aid and took him out of the tent to hospital.

He had been in Siberia before; riding for a prolonged period there in 2016. That was just one of a number of adventure rides he has undertaken and blogged about.

However, while it was spring conditions the last time he was in Siberia, it was still very cold. His video, below, shows a frozen lake turning to icicles.

With 20 years experience in riding his bike in various parts of the world, he said he was very grateful for the help he had received.