Earlier this month, ten lucky cycling enthusiasts got the exclusive chance to cycle a stage of one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world: the Tour de France.
The event, called 'Live the Dream', gave cyclists the opportunity to cycle stage five of the Tour de France, a total of 164km from Carhaix to Cap Frehel. The team completed the race in just over six hours, raising over £20k for people with autism.
"The crowds were already forming ready for the pros," says Christopher Ward, Chairman and Managing Director of Ward Consultancy, who sponsored the event, "so their cheers and shouts of support spurred us on and made an exhilarating end to an already fantastic race. We really did feel like stars."
After completing the event, the team got the chance to watch the pros finish the race from the comfort of the VIP area, where they got to meet world-famous cyclists like Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky (pictured above right, with our cyclists).
The event was organised by The National Autistic Society and sponsored by Ward Consultancy, one of the UK’s top 100 Independent Financial Advisors. Olympic champion and world record holder Chris Boardman kindly helped to design the kit worn by our cyclists.
"I am delighted to be working with the NAS and helping to raise much-needed funds for a charity that really does make a difference to people's lives," says Christopher Ward, who took part in the event with his son, Oliver. "I would urge anyone to sign up to an active challenge event and help fundraise for such a worthy cause."
If you are interested in getting involved in one of our active challenge events, please visit www.autism.org.uk/events or email events@nas.org.uk