Woman from Mickleover cycles men’s Tour de France for charity

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Alex Thorp

BBC News, East Midlands

Amy Cycling Adventures Amy Hudson at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. She is dressed in a pink and white cycling top, black shorts and a yellow helmet. She is sitting on her pink bike with her arm pointing in the air, with the base of the Arc de Triomphe behind her in light coloured stone.Amy Cycling Adventures

Mrs Hudson finished her epic ride on the Champs-Élysées in Paris

A woman who says cycling saved her life has completed the men’s Tour de France route to raise money for charity.

Amy Hudson cycled 6,556km (4,073 miles) on the formidable course, as well as the transfers in between the stages.

The 29-year-old, from Mickleover, Derby, also managed to raise more than £70,000 for a mental health charity.

Mrs Hudson believes she is the first woman to complete the challenge.

“I don’t think it’s set in that I’ve done it,” she said.

“I wanted to do something to raise money to give back and prove that a woman can ride the men’s [Tour de France], plus the transfers as well.”

Amy Cycling Adventures A woman stands with arms aloft by a parked pink mountain bike, next to a large sculpture of a bike in white metal tubing, decorated with red spots and with a sign reading "Col de la Loz - 2,304m" Amy Cycling Adventures

Mrs Hudson said cycling “made her feel alive again”

Mrs Hudson turned to cycling after experiencing a “complete breakdown” during the pandemic.

She suffered from an eating disorder from the age of about 17 until she was 24.

In 2021, while working as a mental health nurse, she began experiencing intrusive thoughts and anxiety, before eventually deciding to quit her job.

Her husband Kyle bought her a bicycle which she rode in the Peak District every other weekend with her dad.

“It was the only time when I could escape from my mind,” she said.

“It gave me that sense of feeling worthy again when I felt so worthless because I felt like a failure from leaving my job.”

“Getting on the bike made me feel alive again.”

Mrs Hudson began documenting her cycling adventures on social media, where she has since amassed tens of thousands of followers.

Follow My Challenge The route which Mrs Hudson cycled shown on a map of France. The route takes an anti-clockwise, banana-shaped inland loop around France, from the north coast, down through the centre, across the south and up the Swiss border before cutting across to the north again. Follow My Challenge

Mrs Hudson cycled the men’s Tour de France route, as well as the transfers between stages

Over the past month, Mrs Hudson has cycled the 21 stages of the 3,320km (2,063 miles) Tour de France route, climbing through mountain ranges in the Alps and Pyrenees.

She also rode the transfers in between the stages, along which the professional athletes are driven, thereby adding more than 3,000km (1,864 miles) to her gruelling challenge.

Her total elevation gain was 74,862m (245,000ft).

Amy Cycling Adventures Mrs Hudson wearing pink and white cycling gear, sitting down eating a biscuit. There is a water bottle on the table in front of her.Amy Cycling Adventures

Mrs Hudson raised £70,000 for charity on the ride

Mrs Hudson has raised in the region of £70,000 for mental health charity Shout – smashing her target of £10,000.

She added: “Hopefully it inspires people to not give up when it gets hard because I was close to giving up at one point in my life and I’m glad that I didn’t because I wouldn’t be here doing this.”

  • If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support is available via the BBC Action Line


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