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At 68, stage 4 cancer survivor takes on 3,333km ride to give patients hope
Leading the gruelling Barcelona-to-Paris ride, Guido De Wilde says every rider is carrying somebody’s cancer story to Paris
- PUBLISHED: Wed 8 Jul 2026, 6:00 AM
Hundreds of kilometres into a gruelling 3,333km ride from Barcelona to Paris, 68-year-old Guido De Wilde is cycling with the weight of a diagnosis he survived, a promise he made and the stories of cancer patients still fighting their way through treatment.
The stage 4 colon cancer survivor is leading a 15-rider team in Cycle Against Cancer, a 25-day charity ride in support of Al Jalila Foundation’s cancer care programmes in the UAE. The riders set off from Barcelona on July 1 and, according to the live tracker, have already covered over 300km of a route that will include more than 54,000 metres of elevation gain before they reach Paris.
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For De Wilde, the challenge is not only about endurance. It is about showing others that life can still move forward after the words no one wants to hear.
“This ride was always meant to send a signal to anyone who has been told they have cancer that there is a road ahead,” he said. “I want them to have hope that a diagnosis is not the end of the story.”
De Wilde still remembers the day his own life changed. It was January 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, and he was overseeing a portfolio of more than 170 hotels across the Middle East, Turkey and Egypt when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
His clearest memory of that moment is the way the news was delivered.
“When I got the diagnosis, the first thing I realised was how important the way that news is delivered really is,” he said. “Even though my case was very serious, the radiologist who gave me the diagnosis also gave me hope. He told me there was a way out, that I could be cured. That message of hope is what I took forward from that moment.”
Almost immediately, cycling became part of his fight. During six months of chemotherapy, De Wilde mounted his bike on a virtual training system at home and kept riding.
“Instead of letting the treatment diminish my spirit, I took an active role in my own recovery,” he said. “That’s when cycling stopped being something I did and became part of how I fought.”
Years later, the same fight has taken him back onto the road, this time with a team behind him.
Cycle Against Cancer brings together cancer survivors, business leaders and members of the UAE cycling community. Thirteen of the 15 riders are UAE-based, while two have joined internationally. Many are riding in memory of loved ones they lost, or in honour of family members still undergoing treatment.
For De Wilde, every rider carries a personal reason.
“One of our riders is also a stage 4 survivor who battled bone cancer,” he said. “All the other riders have family members they’ve either lost or who are currently going through treatment, so there’s a shared purpose behind every name on this roster.”
Preparations
In the months leading up to the challenge, the riders routinely woke up at 2am or 3am to train at Al Qudra cycling track before the desert heat became unbearable. Their preparation also included yoga, nutrition, sleep discipline and strength work.
“What keeps me coming back is the shared purpose,” De Wilde said. “Everyone on this team understands why they’re doing it, and that mission kept us going.”
The Barcelona-to-Paris route was chosen to test the riders physically and mentally. Over 25 days, they will cover long distances, steep climbs and difficult terrain. De Wilde said the difficulty was intentional because the challenge had to reflect the resilience shown by cancer patients every day.
“It’s a physically demanding journey designed to test endurance, resilience and teamwork, and the difficulty is the point,” he said. “It mirrors what our riders and the patients we’re riding for are already proving every day: that even the hardest battles can be faced and overcome.”
De Wilde’s association with cycling for a cause goes back more than two decades. A passionate hotelier, he began using cycling to raise awareness and funds in 2003, later co-founding Marriott’s Road to Awareness in 2008.
In 2022, he launched Cycle Against Cancer with a solo seven-day ride from Brussels to Bergamo in Italy, raising $100,000 for the Al Jalila Foundation.
“That ride was the official start of this movement, born out of a personal vow to support the region’s healthcare community,” he said. “From that solo ride, the mission has grown into a full team taking on Barcelona to Paris this year.”
Riding for a cause
Funds raised through the challenge will support Al Jalila Foundation’s cancer care programmes, including research and access to treatment for patients.
“In a country where more than 7,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed each year, that funding means timely access to treatment and support for patients who need it.”
He said his relationship with the Al Jalila Foundation goes back more than a decade, since the foundation was established in 2013, making the ride a natural continuation of that commitment.
As the riders continue their route towards Paris, De Wilde said the difficult days are held together by the people behind the cause.
“Every one of us is carrying somebody’s story to Paris,” he said, “and that’s not something you put down halfway through.”
As Associate Editor, Sahim Salim helps tell the UAE story like no one else does — and leads a team of reporters that asks the questions to get news and headlines that matter.