Charity cycle ride Tour de Manc postponed until 2021

In 2014, Danny Franks developed the idea of a charitable “tough” sportive through all 10 Greater Manchester council areas.

Danny rode an 80 mile Tour de Manc route, solo, to fundraise for Forever Manchester, raising over £1000. And then in 2016 he joined forces with old school friend Tony Rubins, and created the #all4charity non-profit Tour de Manc Ltd.

The Tour de Manc is entirely run by unpaid volunteers for no commercial gain, and last year gave all proceeds after costs, £15,000, to Manchester charities. A further estimated £120,000 was raised for their preferred charities by last year’s riders.

But this year, coronavirus restrictions in force across Greater Manchester mean organisers do not feel the charity ride could go ahead as planned next month.

The 20th September 2020 event has therefore been re-scheduled for 2nd May 2021.

Tour de Manc raises money by selling rider registration and selling branded cycle wear on its website. Riders are also encouraged to get sponsored to ride on behalf of their own favourite charities.

1,500 cyclists have signed up for a choice of the 100-mile Full Manc, which takes in all 10 boroughs with some serious climbing, or the 100-Kilometre Half Manc.

Registered riders’ tickets will be valid for next May, or they can transfer their place to another rider at no charge.

Among the charities benefiting from the Tour de Manc are the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the Seashell Trust, and the Haematology & Transplant Support Charity (HaTS) at The Christie.

Organisers are currently exploring alternative ways to support the charities, which will be announced next week.

“The decision to re-schedule was not taken lightly and we did everything we could to run the event,” said organisers.

“We understand how much our supported charities need the fundraising we enable.

“However, we feel that conditions are currently too uncertain to guarantee our riders we can deliver the event in September.

“We have had brilliant co-operation from our local authority, charity and sponsor partners and in that spirit, we feel are doing the right thing by moving the event back to next spring, when we hope conditions will be more favourable.”