PARIS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The 2018 Sun Trip cycling challenge will kick off in Lyon, France on June 15, covering 12,000 kilometers en route to southern Chinese city of Guangzhou late in August.

The challenge, with solar energy as the sole means of electricity charging and conservation for bicycles, will feature over 50 participants from 10 countries and regions, aged between 23 and 70.

Starting from Lyon on June 15, all participants on solar-electric bikes will be involved in a series of promotional activities. They are free to choose the route after effectively kicking off their challenge in Chamonix, France on June 19.

In terms of road safety, they are prohibited to take their challenge in the night. A warning signal will be sent via a GPS system on their bikes when necessary.

All participants will move towards their destination half manually, half powered by solar energy, as dictated by the weather conditions.

Hou Lizhao, the only Chinese participant, hopes that he can play a better role in promoting solar energy.

"For normal people, they may feel tired when riding 150 kilometers per day, but assisted by solar energy, they can at least ride 200 to 300 kilometers.

"I want to have more communication with people on the road, and promote solar energy to them," he said.

"It's about living an extraordinary adventure, meeting people and also ourselves because we spend a lot of time alone, and enjoy great landscapes.

"It's also about demonstrating the way of moving. We can go such a long distance every day thanks to the sun. With this energy, maybe everybody can cycle more than 100 kilometers every day, even if they are not trained for cycling," added Frenchman Yann Causalite.?