Fan faces gruelling charity ‘Rugby Tour de France’

AS IRISH eyes turn to France for the Rugby World Cup, one Irish rugby fan will be taking on his very own Tour de France in the hope of raising thousands of euro for charity.

Darragh McElligot of Clontarf Rugby Club is taking on a gruelling three-week solo cycle dubbed a “Rugby Tour de France” which will see him visiting seven of the nine French cities which are hosting matches in the Rugby World Cup.

The 32-year-old solicitor from Naas, Co Kildare, is today almost halfway through his 1,500km journey in aid of the international medical aid agency, Médecins Sans Frontières.

Mr McElligot set off from Nantes on September 1 and has been covering 100km daily on average.

The avid sports fan will only take four rest days during his 20-day cycle.

Mr McElligot’s journey will see him take in stops in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseille and St Etienne before his planned arrival in Lyon on September 20.

“As a huge fan of rugby and of France, I pencilled in this World Cup the day the host nation was announced. When I discovered that Médecins Sans Frontières had opened an office in Dublin, I decided to do something different yet useful with my World Cup by raising funds for Médecins Sans Frontières and increasing awareness of the vital work that they do,” explained Mr McElligot.

The former rugby player, who took up cycling after retiring from club rugby in 2005, admitted he had found his new sport “hard going”, especially in temperatures rather higher than those that have been experienced during the Irish summer.

“I don’t exactly have the typical cyclist’s frame and I burn easily so it isn’t easy, but hopefully the hurt will convince people to support such a worthy cause,” said Mr McElligot.

* For more details about the charity cycle, and how you can contribute to Médecins Sans Frontières, visit the www.rugbytourdefrance.com site.