A North East university graduate is cycling the route of the Tour de France in an effort to raise £30,000 for a cancer charity.
Tudor Tamas, who studied at the University of Sunderland from 2013 to 2017, will be cycling 3,400km, starting in Florence, Italy, on Saturday, June 22.
The route will follow the 21 stages of of the 2024 Tour de France route, finishing on Sunday, July 4 in Nice, France – all in just 21 days.
A total of £17,000 has been raised so far, with the fundraiser a part of the Tour 21 initiative which sees 25 amateur cyclists take on all 21 stages of the Tour de France route to raise a combined £1million.
Tudor said: “I applied in December last year to get a spot on the tour. Originally, we were just to do one week of the event.
“But I said, if I’m going to do it, I’d rather go all in – the whole tour.”
Tudor is rasing money for Cure Leukaemia, which he described as a “fantastic cause”, adding that he wants to help “make the world a slightly better place than we found it".
He said: “It doesn’t matter if you have some personal motive, like a friend or family member who might have suffered from an illness to get involved.
“It's just about doing something well and something good and contributing to our communities. That’s what motivated me to go for it.”
Tudor is recording his progress on social media, having already cycled 2,000km in training.
Although excited by the challenge, he has also admitted feelings of dread at the long days ahead: adding: “The professionals finish a stage in five hours on average.
“We will likely be there for 10 hours minimum – probably more like 12 for some of the stages”.
He added: “It’s not just about doing one stage, because you can do 10 hours a day. It’s about going to bed and waking up the following day, going back on the bike and starting all over for 21 days in a row.”
For Tudor, cycling has always been a huge passion - he even did his dissertation on cycling.
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Head of Media and Communications at the University, Lee Hall spoke of Tudor as a “wonderful, personable and committed student always looking to make a difference”.
He added: “he is so passionate about sport” and has wished him luck on behalf of all his former lecturers.
Donations to Tudor’s fundraiser can be given here.
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