This cyclist dad of two who was on an epic 2,600-kilometre ride across Argentina that was nine years in the making – and which he dubbed “the path of the Condor” – has been killed by a bolt of lightning shortly after setting off.

The adventurer named German Neculman, 39, had been planning on travelling 2,600 kilometres (1,615 miles) by bicycle from La Quiaca, a city in the province of Jujuy, in north-western Argentina, to Dina Huapi, a village in Rio Negro Province, in south-central Argentina, located on the northern edge of Patagonia.

Neculman’s epic voyage had been nine years in the making and was set to take just 130 hours to complete, but he was reportedly struck by lightning near the town of Abra Pampa, in Jujuy province, at the beginning of his trip.

Neculman, who was married with two children, who have not been named, had called his project “the path of the Condor” and he had set out on 4th January after planning it for about nine years that included buying all the gear he needed.

But just after a day into his trip, on Wednesday 5th January, at about 5:30 PM, Neculman was walking along the road with two friends when he was suddenly hit by a bolt of lightning.

By the time medics arrived, he was reportedly already dead. His body was taken to a morgue at the Nuestra Senora del Rosario hospital.

Neculman, who worked as an electrician, had said on Instagram on 1st January, when he got on a plane to fly him to the north of the country to begin his trip that it had taken him nine years to buy the necessary equipment to complete his trip and to train for it.

Condolences have been pouring in on social media from locals and his followers.