A group of 45 cyclists who pedalled eight hours every day for a whole week for charity have returned home.

People can still support the cyclists for living up to the challenge by donating money in aid of cancer research in Malta.

It was a fun but hard week for the group, which cycled some 1,200 kilometres from Copenhagen to Warsaw. This was the first time that the Remax Alive 2017 Cycling Challenge included a mountain-bike trail and a separate one for road bikes.

This was also an international first for cycling challenges of the sort, in that the logistics of both routes were planned ahead and the cyclists had to keep within the set path, co-founder of the Alive Charity Foundation Elton Barry told this newspaper.

Over the past five years, the foundation has raised €335,000 for research, and in collaboration with the Remax and Friends Foundation, it invested €80,000 in a recreation centre for children at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre.

“We enjoyed ourselves, but it was pretty hard and more challenging than previous years. Around 70 per cent of the mountain-bike route was off-road, with the path being made of gravel and sand.

“We also had a couple of rainy days, meaning we had to pedal through mud for nearly the whole week.

“Meanwhile, the road-bike team had to cover 100 kilometres more than the mountain-bike team, and they too had their own challenges,” he added.

Asked about next year’s cycling challenge, the foundation’s co-founder said the route had not yet been decided but the path will be a hilly one.

To help the foundation raise funds, log on to www.alivecharity.com or look up the Facebook page ALIVE Charity Foundation for more details.

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