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Al Crane

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Help me reach my goal of £10,000

Tour de France 2025 - 'Le Loop' - supporting the William Wates Memorial Trust

Le Loop follows the official route of the Tour de France, one week ahead of the professionals and finishes 21 stages later in Paris

On Friday 25th June 2025 around 100 riders will gather in Lille for the 'Grand Depart'. Some cycle a few days, some ride further. More will join us over the following 3 weeks of the tour.

My goal is to complete the full 21 stages of the Tour de France route. Every participant commits to raising a minimum amount for the William Wates Memorial Trust (WWMT). The fundraised money is entirely separate from the participation fee - donations do not pay for my Tour. 

All monies raised go directly to the William Wates Memorial Trust whose mission is to help the most disadvantaged young people keep away from a life of crime and violence and fulfill their potential. This is achieved by giving grants to charities that engage young people through the medium of sports, arts and education.

It's been a tough couple of years for charities and particularly for young people. This is my chance to give something back and help support young people who aren't lucky enough to enjoy the advantages in life that most of us take for granted.

Fun facts to help you decide on how generous you want to be :-)

* Start: June 28th Lille

* Finish: July 20th Paris

* 21 Stages - 3320KMs / 2062 miles

* 51,550m climbing

Imagine running a marathon every day for three weeks (and two marathons on some of the big days) and you get a sense of the challenge!

Le Loop is no small undertaking. Riding even ONE stage of the Tour de France route is going to hurt! Please reward my pain by giving generously.

My employer, Lucera (www.lucera.com ), have given me tremendously generous support to take on this unique challenge.

I will proudly wear the Lucera logo on my kit for the event to celebrate their support and the great things this will do for the William Wates Memorial Trust. 

I am enormously grateful for their support and use this as additional motivation to do them and The Foundation proud. 


Merci!

Please Help Me
Reach My Goal

Raised

£10,847 + £1,652.32 GiftAid

My Goal

£10,000

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My Achievements

My Updates

The final push...May 2025

Wednesday 28th May
It's a little over a month to go now so I thought an update might be due...

It's been a great relief to have some warmer weather in the Spring. Evening rides have been possible though not as frequent as I'd imagined. Doing this and working is really less than ideal! 

Weight-loss has stubbornly stalled around 85kg. Not a disaster but I remain keen to get a little more off. I am really looking forward to eating properly again when all this is done! Body fat is decent at around 8% so at least I am lot leaner now. Hopefully it all equates to improved power to weight ratio - I'm nowhere close to Tadej but I've improved about 25% over the last 6 months or so.  

I had a great training trip to the Algarve in May and managed plenty of climbing and distance some solo and some with some pals from home which was good. Suprisingly mixed weather but at least it was warm!

Final training push comprises a few days in the Alps for stages 18 (Courchevel) & 19 (La Plagne). These are solo and reasonably  terrifying so watch this space for either a relieved rider if I manage both or a possibly  a rather despondent one! 

Next step is packing and final prep so will be leaning on Rob (Le Loop veteran and chief ride instigator) for guidance and advice.

March update

Friday 7th Mar
It's been a while so I thought an update on progress would be good...

January and February training have been pretty solitary to be honest. 

Unsurprisingly, many cycle club rides have been cancelled so I've often been solo. A shame as riding in a group is way more fun than solo. 

Much time spent in the garage staring at the TV. Weather was miserable mostly although I still managed a good deal of weekend /outdoor miles; I have the frost-bitten fingers & toes to show! 

760K in January and 980K in February not too bad especially as I had some work trips in there to contend with. 

Weight continues to come off but much slower & harder now - 

January 31st - Weight 84.5KG / Body Fat 14.3%

February 28th  - Weight 83.3KG / Body Fat 7.8%*

*not convinced that's correct but that's what the scales say!

This week has been a real glimpse of Spring so hopefully the mileage will increase now I can get out for longer rides and possibly some evenings before it gets dark. 

Thanks to all the support - so grateful for all those that have donated to this amazing cause. 


How hard is this?

Wednesday 22nd Jan

Le Loop Training - Q4 2024

Sunday 19th Jan
A quick recap of Q4 2024 training...
I am not called "Big Al" for no reason therefore - challenge number one is to shift a little timber if I am to have any chance of getting this thing done.
I started focusing on this so thought a little progress update would be helpful...

Sep 30th  - Weight: 94.3KG / Body-fat: 21.4%
Oct 31st - Weight: 89KG / Body-fat: 18.2%
Nov 30th - Weight: 87.2KG / Body-fat: 17%
Dec 31st - Weight: 87/1KG / Body-fat: 17.3%

Happy to achieve sensible damage limitation over December - certainly helped by the Festive-500 (mainly dark, cold and foggy in the Hertfordshire country-side!)

Need to work on some more actual cycling now as we head into 2025. Only 6 months to go!

Thank you to my Sponsors

£2k

Sucden Financial

£1.03k

Julie Yim

Incredible, inspirational stuff Al and for an amazing charity. Ride well!

£530.50

Geoff

Good luck Al - 1p per metre as promised!

£520

Alan Mcgroarty

May the wind aye be at yer back and the sun be aboot yer face!

£518

Peter Bartko

£315

Richard Smithyes

Phenomenal stuff Al! Gonna be one to remember for sure. Best of British luck!

£272.75

Richard Grover

Here is 0.5p / vertical metre with The same again if you finish the whole thing!

£215

Jayne Kearney

Amazing Al you’re incredible good luck!

£159

Laura Casanova

The very best of luck on this adventurous ride.

£159

Christian Matthews

Very best of luck in what I am sure is a very hard challenge but equally should be very rewarding, I am sure all your hard work will pay off.

£150

Chris Knight

Great update inspiring Al. Here is a top up donation.

£118.80

Elizabeth Crane

£108

Lisa Hall

Good luck Al xx

£108

Rhys Bryan

£108

Jo Barber

Huge respect! X

£108

Chris Knight

Inspiring Al. Go well and ride safe.

£108

Alison Trace

Good Luck Al, huge respect. Al

£108

Neil And Ali

£108

Adrian And Rachel

Montez bien la Grue. Chapeau!

£106

Wayne Roworth

Just wow! Good luck Al.

£106

Kris Gower

Good stuff, Al. Great cause and best of luck !

£106

Brian Bunyan

Tour de France? 😲Wow! Tour de force!! 💪 All the best Al.

£106

Emma Adams

Best of luck Al, its an amazing feat and look forward to catching up and hearing about it afterwards.

£106

Gary Dhami

Do it for Ange !

£106

Hilal Mehydene

Great effort Al. Have a great ride mate.

£106

Robert Weissman

Al, great cause. Look forward to hearing post race dialogue.

£106

Dc

Good Luck Al Stay Safe

£106

Daniel Beale

Good luck big man.

£106

Neill Furmston

Feel like I’ve been on a small part of your training journey with you, and that’s exhausting enough, so kudos to you Al!

£103.60

Tim Wolton

amazing , best of luck!!

£101

Sanjiv Panchani

Sounds absolutely amazing! Hope you finish before the pro’s 😁

£100

Darko Barac

What a beast! I know you'll smash it but this really is the next level... best of luck Al

£100

John Estrada

make sure you charge the batteries every mng!

£100

Glyn Harrington

Best of British to you Al!!

£100

Richard Thomas

I’ll be with you in spirit from the sofa. Don’t fall off. Best of luck

£100

Harry Barman

Best of luck Al. An amazing adventure for a good cause.

£100

Phil And Tanja

You are excused from this year’s golf trip. Back on the team next year however… Best of luck with the ride - amazing feat

£100

Howard Silverman

Awesome dude

£81

Paul Clarke

What a challenge! Good luck and hope you enjoy it Al!

£79.50

Patrik Nilsson

Good luck Al!

£75

Remo

£55

Pooja Rohra

Good luck and enjoy Al! Great cause.

£54

Mark Davison

All the very best Al. I’m sure you’ll smash it. Be safe!

£54

Henrik Hansen

£54

Tony K

“I don’t ride a bike to add days to my life. I ride a bike to add life to my days”

£54

Barry C.

Safe travels!

£54

Kirstie Macmillan

Good luck Al, you’re going to be awesome 🤩 lots of love, Steven, Kirstie and Flinty ❤️❤️

£53.32

Jon Watras

AMAZING WORK AL!!!!

£53.32

Roland Schilling

Madness needs to be rewarded. Good luck

£53.32

Steve Tatum

Good luck Al

£53.32

Richard Selby

Best of luck. Very worthy cause.

£53.32

Paul Mitcheson

Go Al!!

£53.32

Shaun Barham

Great work Al. Beers after!!

£53.32

Stan

£53.32

Lydia Reid

Good luck on the climbs / cobbles! Very impressed

£52.12

Jeffrey Ward

Good luck mate, looks like a real adventure for sure!

£52.12

Tom Sagaz

Best of luck Al, amazing effort!

£50

Matt Porter

Best of luck Al!! Got to be bonkers!!

£50

Lewis Samuels

Good luck Al, wishing you the very best of luck. Stay strong mate

£50

Sarah Purser

Got you Al!

£50

Dan Shaw

Hugely inspiring, wishing you all the best Al.

£50

Scott Worton

Absolutely nuts, but a wonderful cause and a wonderful challenge for a man of your calibre!

£50

Mark Portlock

What an amazing challenge Al, best of luck and look forward to seeing the post-Loop update!

£50

John Bogue

Best of luck AL - great cause. JB

£50

Jez

Good luck mate!

£50

Darryl Hooker

Good luck Al - great cause!

£50

Nick Downes

Absolutely rooting for you Al, and watching from afar with awe and admiration!! Wishing you every success my friend!

£43.20

Marilyn Roberts

Good Luck

£32.23

Howard Derham

Good luck! This is a Heroic!

£32.23

Alessandro Rabbiosi

Impressive - best of luck

£30

James Husband

£27.05

Gem & Malc

Keep going very inspiring.

£27.05

James Edwards

Great cause and what a ride! Good luck Al

£27.05

Antonio Guerra

£27.05

George Mcmahon

Good luck Al!

£27.05

Martin Elsom

Best wishes mate

£27

Lee Oliver

Brilliant - I'm not sure you will enjoy it, but what a story you'll be able to tell. Chapeau!

£27

Joe Whaley

I don’t remember anyone calling you ‘big Al’ ;) Hope you’re keeping well and all the best.

£27

Russell Thornton

£27

John Parkes

Good luck Al .

£27

Ray Wilson

Inspirational mate, great stuff.

£26.45

Dana Valtas

What a crazy challenge! Good luck and hope you enjoy it!

£25

Jeremy Pearce

Enjoy the ride Al, great work!

£25

Antony

Great work Al, best of luck with the ride.

£25

Noel S

Big Al, all the very best of luck for thsis crazy but admirable adventure - I look forward to following your progress

£20

Harry Callaghan

Good luck mate!! Absolute champion!

£11.33

Anonymous

Dig deep you’re going to do great for an amazing project.

£5

Jasper R

Go on Al