Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge supporting GBS│CIDP Foundation International
Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge
Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge supporting GBS│CIDP Foundation International
About Tour de MMN
Can a cyclist with Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) ride a Tour de France route?
That’s the question Clive Phillips will answer, when he rides his most challenging Ride for MMN to date - the Tour de MMN to connect the MMN community and raise funds for critical MMN research.
The Tour de France is the biggest cycling event in the world and one of the most grueling sporting events. Completing it is the pinnacle of a professional cyclist's career, one that can elude even the best. For an amateur cyclist, riding a single stage of the Tour is a once in a lifetime challenge - riding the whole route, an impossible dream. For someone living with MMN, a rare, life changing chronic neurological condition affecting the peripheral nervous system, the challenges are multiplied. Despite regular treatment, Clive’s body is permanently weakened by MMN, his left side weaker than his right side and the fine motor control in his left hand impaired.
In the Tour de MMN, Clive and a team of fellow military veterans will ride a 3200km route inspired by the 1955 Tour De France. Starting on 30 May 2025, the team will try to achieve their impossible dream, in 22 stages over 25 days. Clive must fit his training and the ride around his regular 6 weekly treatment, and he will be pushing his body in a way he has never before.
How will Clive’s body respond to the demands on it? As he prepares for this journey of a lifetime, questions linger in his mind: Will the treatment wear off quicker than normal, causing my muscles to fail as the demands of the ride hit home? Will I lose strength until I can no longer change gear, pull the brakes, or force the pedals round?
Only time will tell; Like the British team that debuted at the 1955 Tour De France and in whose tyre tracks the team will ride, Clive will only know if the ride is possible once he is on the road. The Tour de MMN is not a challenge for the faint hearted, but the team are determined to give their best, both to complete it and to put Multifocal Motor Neuropathy and the MMN community in the spotlight as they do.
From cheers at the roadside to donations to the MMN research fund, the team is asking for your support in their challenge. They are incredibly grateful for all the support they receive.
Every dollar will go to support critical research needed to further understand this debilitating and isolating condition.
Date
Starts at: May 29, 2025 11:00 PM
Ends at: June 22, 2025 11:00 PM
Location
,
Contact
Clive Phillips
clive@makingthemostofnow.co.nz
Explore the Route
https://www.komoot.com/collection/2817359/-tour-de-mmn-2025
Follow the team's progress:
MMN Research
To date, the GBS|CIDP Foundation has awarded more than $8 million in grants meant to advance the knowledge of GBS, CIDP, and variants.
In 2022, the Foundation embarked on fundraising endeavors aimed at research dedicated to advancing treatments and diagnostics for Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN). We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our community for their unwavering support and contributions during MMN Awareness Month this February. In March 2024, GBS | CIDP Foundation announced its first MMN Research Grant for the following study: Anti-GM1 neuropathies, from antibodies to phenotype.
Your donation will fund essential research needed to understand and treat MMN.
About the Foundation
The GBS│CIDP Foundation International is working for a future when no one with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and related syndromes such as multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) suffers alone and that everyone has access to the right diagnosis and the right treatment, right away.
Our commitment is our story. It all began with eight people sitting around a dining room table 30 years ago. Through the hard work and determination of our Founder, Estelle Benson, the Foundation grew larger and has become able to support thousands of patients, family members, friends and caregivers. The Foundation is committed to continuing to provide the experience of care and support so indicative of the original grassroots mission.
Our commitment is to support those touched by GBS | CIDP and variants so that every patient has access to an early and accurate diagnosis, proper treatment, and the opportunity for a full recovery. Learn about our original Founders, Bob and Estelle Benson, and the fascinating historic journey that was once 8 and is now over 30,000 members! Our Leadership, guided by our Board of Directors, is committed to success in all areas of support, education, research and advocacy. The Foundation is extremely fortunate to be associated with the top experts in neurology. This expertise extends to you in many ways, including the Centers of Excellence programs which provide first-class care to GBS-CIDP patients.