Radio Islam International – 2019/02/13

An amateur cyclist pedalled his way up the toughest stage of the Tour de France, doing it all without a seat on his bicycle.

Rob Holden managed to climb roughly 21.5 kilometers up Mont Ventoux, one of the notorious stages in the world’s most famous cycling race in order to raise money for several prostate cancer charities.

He completed the feat in an impressive two hours, despite not being able to sit down the entire way.

The 52-year-old Englishman from Teddington in Surrey, is no stranger to the mountain, having cycled the same stage in 2013 on a heavy Boris Bike, but he says that this was his hardest challenge.

Holden says that cycling without a seat was really strange at first.

“Thankfully the crossbar was flush where the seat goes, otherwise I might have had a nasty surprise had I sat down accidentally, it wasn’t a race and I didn’t have a specific completion time in mind – I just wanted to do an endurance challenge.”

Cyclists around the world describe the leg as the longest and most iconic climb on Le Tour.