The inaugural Tour De 4 charity bike ride saw Hoy lead participants – many of whom were living like the Olympic legend with stage four cancer – in a mass cycle.
The retired champion track cyclist, who was once Scotland’s most successful Olympian, was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2023, and is calling on men in a similar position to keep active to improve their quality of life.
The event, which had been aimed to raise around £1m, started and finished at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow. A number of routes were available, including a 92 kilometre (57 miles) option, a 60 kilometre (37 miles) option, and a one kilometre, family-friendly route.
Thousands of donations have poured in to support the event’s beneficiaries: Breast Cancer Now, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan, Maggie’s and Prostate Cancer UK.
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John Coventry, senior vice president at GoFundMe, said: “What we’ve seen in Glasgow is truly extraordinary – thousands of people coming together, led by Sir Chris Hoy, to raise vital funds for cancer charities that make such a difference in people’s lives.
“At GoFundMe, we’re proud to stand behind the people whose kindness and support made the Tour de 4’s £2m milestone possible.”
On Saturday, Hoy spoke at a press conference at PureGym in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, as he launched a fitness partnership between the gym, the Institute of Cancer Research, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
Hoy, 49, who was told in 2024 that he had between two and four years left to live, spoke of how the initial diagnosis is “really bad”, and that many people doubt things will ever get better.
The partnership means men with late-stage prostate cancer who are on hormone therapy may receive a free, one-year membership with the gym, with access to training plans and other support.
He was joined by Professor Nick James, who specialises in prostate cancer; Christine Lote, who lost her leg due to a rare form of bone cancer; and Clive Chesser, chief executive of PureGym.
Hormone therapy can come with a number of troublesome side effects, including fat gain, muscle loss, reduced bone density, fatigue and mental health problems, all of which can be alleviated with exercise.
In a message to those who are in the same position he found himself in back in 2023, Hoy said: “It doesn’t stay that way forever, and you can get through it. You can’t imagine you’ll get through it but you will, and it’s down to the people around you.
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“When it’s really bad, you’re not looking too far into the future, It’s just about getting through the next minute, the next few seconds, those really difficult moments, it’s literally almost second to second, and then it becomes minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day.
“I remember the early days and the first few weeks, where I had the first few minutes where I wasn’t thinking about it, you sort of get distracted by something, and then you come back and snap back into it.
“And then those periods get longer and longer and before you know it, it’s just a part of your life and you don’t have to be defined by it.”
He added: “So to anybody who is going through a similar thing, just hang on tight. You’ll get through it, it’ll get easier. It seems like the worst thing in the world right now, but you can, you can do it.”
