The Tour de 4 is a new initiative launched by Sir Chris Hoy to change the perception of people living with Stage 4 cancer and to raise funds for cancer charities across the UK.
Online cycling platform Zwift has joined Tour de 4 as a founding partner, with rides to be held on the platform until August 2025.
Zwift says it will match any charitable donations made by the community up to £50,000.
“Zwift is encouraging as many people as possible to join the rides and to donate to the cancer charities that mean the most to them,” the indoor cycling platform says.
Sir Chris Hoy, the six-times Olympic champion, disclosed he has terminal Stage 4 prostate cancer in October last year, having been told in 2023 by doctors that he had two to four years to live.
Now, Tour de 4 is aiming to change attitudes towards terminal cancer. The fundraising initiative “aims to shine a spotlight on what a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis can look like and demonstrate that it is possible to live well and lead a happy life alongside this devastating diagnosis”.
“Chris' dream is to get as many people as possible living with Stage 4 cancer, as well as their friends and families, to participate to whatever extent they can manage, raising money for the cancer charities that mean the most to them,” the Tour de 4 website says.
Hoy says: “Tour de 4 is all about bringing people together and Zwift is the perfect platform to do this; I get so much out of my Zwift rides, meeting and engaging with a brilliant community.”
The first Tour de 4 ride on Zwift will take place on Saturday 8 February. Designed as a social ride, it will begin at 10am for a 45-minute ride around Zwift’s Tempus Fugit course in Watopia, and sign-ups are open now.
Hoy will be joined by guests including cyclists Philip Hindes and Freddy Ovett, Scottish swimmer Duncan Scott, and triathletes Lucy Charles-Barclay and Sam Laidlow.
Zwift’s Tour de 4 rides will run fortnightly until the end of May, before taking place on a monthly basis through June, July and August.
The final Tour de 4 event will be a ride in Scotland on 7 September.
Following Hoy’s announcement last year, there was a nearly eight-fold increase in NHS searches for prostate cancer, which affects one in eight men during their lifetime and claims the lives of more than 12,000 each year.
