The Tour De France is an annual cycling race, held in France every year. The race comprises multiple stages and lasts for 21 days, in which various cyclists compete to win the ultimate title. Notably, retired nurse Jackie Fowler is set to run the entire route for a noble cause.
The Tour De France is regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world. This year, for the 2022 Tour De France race, a 60-year-old nurse will be cycling the entire route of the race to raise awareness for leukemia.
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“An unbelievable challenge”: Jackie Fowler
Jackie Fowler is a retired NHS nurse who has been selected to be a part of the “Cure Leukaemia TheTour21 team”. She will be riding all 21 stages of the 2022 route. Fowler will be a part of the 25-member team, and their goal is to raise £1,000,000 for Cure Leukaemia.
Cure Leukaemia is the official charity partner for Tour De France. The team will start their ride 1 week ahead of the professional riders.
Fowler and the team will ride the entire stretch of 3300 km. They will attempt to complete the race in three weeks’ time to raise awareness.
A 60-year-old nurse from Alexandra Hospital is taking on the mammoth challenge of riding the entire length of the Tour de France cycle race next summer.
Jackie Fowler will cycle the astonishing 2,200mile route as part of a team aiming to raise £1million for @CureLeukaemia pic.twitter.com/R3HOQF7s0y
— Worcestershire Acute NHS (@WorcsAcuteNHS) January 18, 2022
Fowler realizes that this will be a daunting task for her. She will be training hard for the race and hopes to make it to the last day as well.
“This is an unbelievable challenge, 3300km in just three weeks is a massive step up from a Sunday social ride with my club mates,” said Fowler.
Ex England football star Geoff Thomas MBE inspired Fowler to be a part of the ride. Notably, Thomas himself is a leukemia survivor.
The reason behind Fowler joining the race
Fowler has revealed that there is a reason behind her signing up for this. Fowler has previously lost her own son, Simon, to a disease similar to leukemia. Her son suffered from Aplastic Anaemia and tragically passed away aged 3.
“So, as I ride up the mountains of the Alps and Pyrénées I be thinking of him, and the children who are still affected by blood disorders knowing I’ll be playing my part in the search for that cure,” said Fowler.
When she talked with Geoff Thomas, she knew she could relate to the cause and decided to do it. Currently, Folwer is practicing hard to make sure she completes the 3 week-long ride across the mountains.
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“However, with the support of friends and family I will be training hard, and hopefully on the last day I will get to ride along the Champs de Elysee in Paris,” she said.
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Fowler aims to raise £30,000 of the £1,000,000 team target. The ride will kick off on June 24th in Denmark. We wish this brave lady all the luck.