Sir Chris Hoy to take on gruelling 225km cycle ride for charity despite cancer

Olympic legend and terminal cancer sufferer Sir Chris Hoy is proving why he’s such an inspiration – by tacking a 255km cycle ride across Cambodia for impoverished children. 

And in his first TV interview alongside his supportive wife Lady Sarra, 48 year-old Sir Chris looked emotional as he also revealed his harrowing first thought following his shock terminal diagnosis. 

The six-time Olympic gold medallist has been told by doctors that he has between two and four years to live after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. 

On Tuesday’s ITV This Morning show he sat with Sarra, who herself was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis shortly after Chris’ own diagnosis. 

Sir Chris told hosts Cat Deeley and Dermot O’Leary, when receiving his health bombshell he immediately thought of Sarra and his children, Callum, nine, and Chloe, six – and what will happen to them. 

He explained: “We were in the room, and we got the diagnosis and I felt sick, I felt nauseous and the room felt like it was spinning. 

“I had to get up but I couldn’t sit still and it’s not the news that you can ever prepare yourself for. 

“You can never imagine yourself in that situation and a million thoughts are running through your head. The first one was ‘how on Earth are we going to tell the kids?'”

He went on to explain how his children were the driving factor for him to get up and carry on. 

The cyclist added: “Even sitting here doing this, six months ago there is no way we could have done it – it would have been too emotional. It’s having targets each day, it’s having things that you have to focus on. 

“The kids are the centre of your life so that’s your purpose to get out of bed and to get on and look after them to make sure they’re okay. 

“But it’s about bringing it back to the here and the now, the future doesn’t exist yet… so it’s about trying to be present, trying to appreciate the ‘now’.” 

Now Sir Chris is going to push his mind and body again by tackling the five-day, 255km cycle ride in the Far East for children’s charity ISF Cambodia – from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap on November 26th to 30th. 

ISF provides educational and sporting opportunities for underprivileged children living in the country and Sir Chris has been supporting the charity since 2020. 

He will be joined by fellow Olympic cyclist Jason Queally as well as enthusiastic amateurs on the sponsored trip which aims to raise more than £200,000. 

Sir Chris added: “We will take in some breathtaking landscapes and immerse ourselves in Cambodia’s vibrant culture, all while making a tangible difference. 

“I met ISF Cambodia in 2020 and I’m a massive supporter of the fantastic work they are doing in breaking the cycle of generational poverty. 

“They are dedicated to making a difference one child at a time. It’s a cause that really does resonate with me and I’m sure it will with you too. 

“I’ve managed to convince my old pal Jason Queally to come along too to join us on this amazing expedition.” 

Miranda Leung, one of the charity’s trustees, paid tribute to Sir Chris for continuing with the challenge despite his terminal diagnosis. 

She said: “Many of you will have heard that Sir Chris Hoy has announced that he has terminal cancer. 

“Yet, not only does this not stop him going about his daily life, he has in fact committed to do a 255 KM cycle ride to help raise funds for ISF, a children’s charity in Cambodia I have supported for a long time and am a trustee of. 

“We are immensely grateful for his support.”

Sir Chris has recently told how he had been diagnosed with primary cancer in his prostate, which has spread to his bones. 

Just before Sir Chris’s tumour was discovered, his wife Sarra had undergone scans that would later show she had degenerative disease MS. 

Sir Chris, who was first inspired to take up cycling by the famous BMX scenes in the film E.T., had won six Olympic, 11 world and 43 World Cup titles by the time he retired. 

The cyclist first won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and went on to secure three more gold medals four years later at Beijing. He won two further golds at London 2012, before retiring from cycling in 2013. 

His haul of six Olympic golds is the second highest total by any British Olympian behind Sir Jason Kenny’s tally of seven.