University of Sunderland graduate takes on Tour de France challenge for cancer charity Cure Leukaemia

A University of Sunderland graduate really is going the extra mile as he is soon to embark on the 3,400km route of the Tour de France to raise tens-of-thousands-of-pounds for the cancer charity Cure Leukaemia.

This year the iconic race will start in Florence, Italy, before finishing in in Nice, France, just 21 days later, taking in the gruelling mountain ranges of both the Alps and Pyrenees.

Former BA Sports Journalism and MA Public Relations student Tudor Tamas will be getting on his bike on Saturday June 22 to follow the same route of the world’s most famous race which will commence one week later.

Tudor hopes to complete the challenge three weeks later on Sunday July 14, only on this ride it won’t be the famous yellow jersey providing the motivation, but the prospect of raising a whopping £30,000 to support people living with leukaemia.

Tudor said: “This is a fantastic cause. I think worldwide there’s a person diagnosed with leukaemia every 27 seconds.

“I feel like our purpose here is to just try and make the world a slightly better place than we found it - just to give something back from everything that we've received.”

Tudor is part of a team of 25 amateur cyclists taking on the challenge with the aim of raising a combined total of over £1m.

He said: “I applied in December last year to get a spot on the tour. Originally I was just going 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.”

Ahead of the event, Tudor has already cycled over 2,000km during his training rides.

He added: “It’s really exciting to do the tour but at the same time I am dreading it.

“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 to complete it.

"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 again for 21 days in a row.”

Tudor developed his passion for cycling while studying at the University of Sunderland.

He said: “I've developed some fantastic relationships with the people that I met at the University of Sunderland.

“I think the best year was definitely the third year of the Sport Journalism course. I did my dissertation on cycling, unsurprisingly, so that's how I really grew into the course, because I was a huge cycling fan at the time.”

Tudor has already raised £17,000 towards his £30,000 target.

He added: “It doesn't matter if you have a personal motive to get involved in the challenge, like a friend or family member who might have suffered from an illness.

“It's just about doing something well, something good, and contributing to our communities. That’s what motivated me to go for it.”

You can donate to Tudor’s challenge via his JustGiving page. Cure Leukaemia allows patients with blood cancer to access pioneering and potentially life-saving new treatments.