Updated: Hamilton gearing up for Tour 21

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This article was published 19/02/2025 (290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Training for The Tour 21 is literally an uphill battle for Brandon’s Grant Hamilton as he prepares for a three-week trek through some of France’s most iconic mountains this summer.

Hamilton is one of 25 amateur cyclists from around the world who were selected last fall to participate in the international charity ride, which is affiliated with the famed cycling event, the Tour de France. The Tour 21 event takes the same route as the Tour de France, though it starts on June 28 in Lille, one week prior. And while it’s not a race — rather an international fundraising campaign meant to raise £1 million for Cure Leukaemia — the route is hardly for the faint of heart.

“It’s the same roads, the same distance, the same elevation. I just don’t have to race it, which is, you know, significantly easier than the pros,” Hamilton said Tuesday. “But it’s still a tremendous challenge, a physical challenge, so yeah, the endurance and training is top of mind for me. And fitting that in with the fundraising is proving to be an all-encompassing task.”

As per The Tour 21 website, the 2025 Tour de France will be entirely in France this year, and will stretch from the French Riviera and feature climbs and summits in the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Jura.

It is slated to be one of the “most challenging editions in recent history,” according to the website.

Since last October when he got the official nod from the Tour 21 organizers that he was the only Canadian cyclist to make the cut, Hamilton has been pushing his training regimen hard.

Every weekend, he tries to spend at least two to four hours on the bike every Saturday and Sunday. He then takes a break on Monday for a rest, before taking at least an hour and up to two hours either in the morning or after work for the rest of the week.

Those weekday rides are “higher intensity, tempo training,” Hamilton said, with the lower intensity endurance rides saved for the weekend.

But for a guy who was born and bred in Brandon, with Grand Valley and the Brandon Hills serving as really our only local anomalies in the endless prairie landscape, just how does a Tour 21 participant train for a punishing mountain ride?

The truth, says Hamilton, is that it’s a little daunting.

“I regularly feel that it looms ever larger as it gets closer. I know that I can do the distance, but I’m still unsure about how I’m going to handle some of those steep climbs. And unfortunately, that’s just something that I’m not going to be able to know until I get there.

“We just don’t have the mountains available for me to test my mettle before trying to test my pedal.”

That said, Hamilton says that he’s certainly not alone in trying to live up to the challenge. And along the way, he’s had a lot of help from other Tour 21 riders who are taking it on.

“I’m a pretty confident person, and I believe I can do it. The coaches and the other team members who are also training for this, we’re in a WhatsApp group chat, and everyone is super supportive … Everybody knows that we’re doing this, and it’s a tough challenge, but it’s nothing compared to the challenge of somebody who’s living with leukaemia and worried about what the diagnosis means for their lives.

“I’m really excited to push myself for that kind of cause.”

As part of his participation in The Tour 21, Hamilton needs to raise approximately $55,000 by the end of this year, all of which will go toward Luekaemia research and treatment for those affected by blood cancer. As of right now he’s about a third of the way there. One of the ways he has gone about fundraising has been to sell Tour de France 2025 calendars through a deal with Leech Printing, which brought in about $1,000.

And this coming Saturday, Section 6 Brewing Company here in Brandon will host a Fondue Fundraiser Party between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. for an eight-hour tour de force of cheese, craft beer and cider.

“It’s one of my favourite things, cheese and fondue,” Hamilton said. “We’re certainly spending a lot of time in the Alps on the Tour, so possibly we’ll be able to carbo load with a baguette and some hot, gooey cheese, and we’re bringing a little bit of those outbreak ski vibes to this fundraiser too.”

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