The DRW Cycle Slam 2022
From 29th April – 10th May 2022, 64 courageous RugbyWorks supporters took on the enormous challenge of cycling from Almuñecar, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal over a gruelling 10 days of cycling to raise money for Dallaglio RugbyWorks.
The 40 riders taking on stage one travelled from the beachside of Almuñecar, in and around Malaga to the beautiful city of Ronda in their first 3 days, with the 2393m climbs into Ronda proving especially tough! They then travelled through a beautiful National Park and took in the surreal surroundings on the way to Benalup, before they completed their final cycling day in the lively city of Seville, a beautiful place to end Stage one. It was on this day where our stage one riders completed their trip and handed the baton to our 24 stage two riders to complete the trip alongside our incredible core riders who were completing both legs.
Stage two began with riders cycling 241km from Seville, through El Rompido and crossing the border into Portugal to the beautiful Val do Lobo. It was when we crossed the border that temperatures soared and continued to do so for the rest of the trip. As they took on a 2155m climb from Val do Lobo to Beja and an equally tough ride from Beja to Setubal in the 40 degree heat, they were comforted in the knowledge that they just had one more day to power through, which they did in style. They finished the phenomenal 10 day, 1147km cycle ride on the roof of the beautiful MAAT museum in Lisbon. What better way to mark the end of this momentous trip!
To celebrate the finale of Cycle Slam 2022, we were very pleased to be joined on the roof of the MAAT by Chris Sainty, the ambassador of Portugal, and Kian Murphy and Pedro Nava who also cycled the last day with our riders. Our riders were also lucky enough to celebrate their achievement at the ambassador’s residence. We would like to thank the Ambassador for hosting us and for allowing our founder, Lawrence Dallaglio, to talk to all other guests at his residence about the journey they had been on, and about the work Dallaglio RugbyWorks does.
A huge highlight from the trip was over very own RugbyWorks alumni and coach, Jose joining us on Stage two. Coming to the UK from Portugal aged 14, Jose (featured in the video) spoke limited English and was therefore placed in a pupil referral unit. He had little support and was also tackling getting to grips with the language. Through our intervention, he developed key life skills which eventually led him to go to university and even join the Dallaglio RugbyWorks team as a coach himself.
Jose joined us on the second stage of Slam, returning to his home country of Portugal, and is a perfect illustration of how we work to break the cycle. We’re extremely proud of Jose for his determination both on and off the bike, as well as all the other the riders on the trip for their perseverance and dedication.
Collectively, they raised over £250,000 for the young people supported by Dallaglio RugbyWorks! This money will go towards ensuring young people who have been excluded from school can build brighter futures through our intervention, enabling them to get the best chances in life.
We also want to say a huge thank you to our event sponsors, because without them, we couldn’t put on an event like this and raise so much money for our young people.
· Bioscope
· Jump24
· SubTV
· Bidfood
· Optimum Nutrition
· Le Col
· Big Yellow Self-Storage
· Fenwicks Bikes
Cycle Slam 2022
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Cycle Slam 2022 〰️
Fancy joining us on Cycle Slam 2024? Contact taylor@dallagliorugbyworks.com to ensure you are kept in the loop on all things Cycle Slam.