The three wise men look very, very fresh prior to starting their Mont Ventoux Challenge in aid of Sophie's Journey, a charity set up by Liam Mulcahy (left) to raise funds for the families of kids with terminal illness.
By Brian Canty
Three Irish cyclists completed a monumental challenge this morning when they rode up one of the sport’s most brutal climbs 12 times between them in the space of 15 hours.
Keith Morel and well-known Limerick-based charity worker Liam Mulcahy rode up Mont Ventoux from the three sides while another of the travelling party, Gary Sheehan, did each ascent twice.
It meant Sheehan scaled the mountain an incredible six times.
The latter took a cruel 15 hours while Morel and Mulcahy managed it in just under seven hours - battling stifling temperatures and the punishing gradients throughout.
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For the latter, the effort was about continuing the Trojan work he’s been doing to support kids with terminal illness though the Sophie's Journey Foundation he set up.
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Standing 1,911 metres above sea level, the climb is steeped in history and is no place for the feint-hearted on the best of days. Unlike what happened at the Tour de France this year when the stage was shortened by six kilometres, conditions were more favourable today...
His daughter Sophie was born with a rare genetic called called 1q43 and after she passed away in October 2014, Mulcahy and his legions of followers have done an amazing amount to keep her memory alive.
“For me, who only does purely leisure riding this was a champions league of challenges,” he said.
“It was incredibly hard but felt great on completion.
“To see the names on the road of so many of the sport’s riders was a surreal feeling and doing it in memory of my daughter made it more special,” he added.
Sheehan, a top-quality domestic racer said: “I wanted to find my limit on one of the most iconic climbs in cycling and doing it for Sophie’s journey gave me great motivation to push on through.”
Sophie’s Journey is still actively supporting families with children with terminal illness and anyone who wants to donate to the cause can do so here.
Gary Sheehan is alive and well atop the infamous Mont Ventoux, giving us six fingers to indicate how many times he'd made it to the top.
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