About the Tour & the cause
A little background, for anyone who wants to know more about the race Steve followed — and the charity he rode for.
The Tour de France — a potted history
The oldest and most prestigious of cycling's three Grand Tours, born of a newspaper stunt and still, 120 years on, the greatest show on two wheels.
1903
A newspaper stunt becomes a legend
L'Auto, a French sports paper, invents a six-stage race around France to sell copies. Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France over 2,428 km. It is an instant sensation.
1904
The first scandal
Fans ambush riders in the dark, scatter nails and even punch the leaders. So much cheating is uncovered that the first four finishers are disqualified. The Tour survives — barely.
1919
The yellow jersey is born
After the Great War the race returns. The race leader's jersey is made yellow — the colour of L'Auto's newsprint — so spectators can pick him out in the bunch.
1952
Up the Ventoux
The Tour climbs Mont Ventoux for the first time. The bare limestone summit will become the most feared and revered climb in cycling, and the scene of its darkest day.
1967
Tom Simpson
On the Ventoux, Britain's world champion Tom Simpson collapses and dies, his jersey pocket found to contain amphetamines. The race is never the same; drug testing begins in earnest.
1969–1975
The Cannibal
Eddy Merckx wins five Tours and seemingly every other race he enters, an era of dominance that may never be matched.
1986
The first American
Greg LeMond takes yellow, opening the Tour to the Anglosphere. He later survives a hunting accident to win a third Tour by eight seconds — the closest finish ever.
1999–2005
The Armstrong years
Lance Armstrong wins seven straight Tours, a story of cancer survival and triumph — until the whole edifice is exposed as the most systematic doping programme in sport. All seven wins are stripped in 2012.
2012
A British clean sweep
Bradley Wiggins becomes the first Briton to win the Tour, with Chris Froome winning four of the next six. Cleaner racing, narrower margins.
Today
Still the greatest show on two wheels
Through wars, scandal and reinvention the Tour endures — three weeks, 3,000+ km, and a nation glued to the roadside every July.
The route Steve “Wonks” Williams set out to ride was the 1966 Tour de France — the edition won by Lucien Aimar, the first to feature drug tests, and the site of a riders' protest at Bordeaux. Read more about that year and the champion who wrote to Steve on the 1966 page.
Parkinson's & Parkinson's UK
Steve rode to raise money for Parkinson's UK — the largest UK charity funding research into Parkinson's and supporting everyone affected by it. Here is why that matters.
What is Parkinson's?
Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition: the brain gradually loses the nerve cells that produce dopamine, a chemical that helps control movement. As those cells die, the main symptoms emerge — tremor, slowness, and stiff or inflexible muscles — alongside a wide range of other physical and psychological effects. There is currently no cure.
In the UK around 166,000 people live with a diagnosis, and someone is told they have Parkinson's every 20 minutes. Thousands more are believed to be living with it undiagnosed and unsupported.
- What it is
- A progressive neurological condition — the brain gradually loses the nerve cells that make dopamine.
- Main symptoms
- Tremor, slowness of movement, and stiff or inflexible muscles, plus a wide range of other effects.
- In the UK
- Around 166,000 people are diagnosed, and someone is diagnosed every 20 minutes.
- The charity
- Parkinson's UK, founded in 1969, is the largest UK funder of Parkinson's research.
- Their mission
- To improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's, and to find a cure.
Parkinson's UK was founded in 1969 (then as the Parkinson's Disease Society) by Mali Jenkins, whose sister had the condition. It was renamed Parkinson's UK in 2010. Today it funds research into better treatments and a cure, and supports everyone living with Parkinson's — every step of the way.
Wonks Route '66 · Nancy → Paris · for Parkinson's UK