Presenter Manuel Venderbos is ‘completely devastated’ after his participation in the Alpe d’HuZes, the cycling event that raises money for cancer research. It was an emotional mountain ride, including a fall on the back of his head and “an elderly woman” who overtook him while jogging.
With some fear, Manuel Venderbos (46) participated in the Alpe d’HuZes on Thursday morning. ,,I had a lot of excuses beforehand: busy schedule, bad spring, a lot of rain, pain in my knee.” The result was that the presenter of the AD Media podcast and Show news completely untrained climbed the French mountain top with 21 hairpin bends on his racing bike. “The mountain is very steep. Professional riders take about forty minutes. Beforehand I thought it would take about twice as long, that turned out to be more than three times as long. It was tremendous!”
The Alpe d’HuZes is an annual event in which thousands of Dutch people climb the French mountain top of Alpe d’Huez on foot or by bicycle to raise money for cancer research. Various SBS stars, such as Venderbos, Dennis van der Geest and Jan Versteegh, cycled under the leadership of ex-pro cyclist Leontien van Moorsel.
‘Embarrassing Fall’
When the Shownieuws presenter sees a teammate standing by the side of the road halfway through the mountain stage and wants to take a break, he gets stuck in his clipless pedal and falls over in front of many spectators. “Very embarrassing! I fell on the back of my head. Glad I had a helmet on”, he looks back afterwards. During the fall, his racing bike lands badly on his left leg, causing him to plod up with a cramp for the rest of the ride. ,,The low point was when a woman with sticks overtook me half running. She was of an age, but I’ve reached the top.” Along the way he received drops, pieces of cold banana and sometimes a push in the back from complete strangers. “I certainly didn’t turn it down.”
Emotionally, Venderbos crossed the finish line, where Leontien van Moorsel was waiting for him. ,, There I recorded a video for my dear mother with tears in my eyes. “This one’s for you mom,” I said. “For all the radiation you still have to undergo.” I got hearts and crying smileys back from her.” The mother of Venderbos recently got cancer for the second time. ,,When I received that call, I immediately thought: it must be a metastasis, that is a very bad story. But luckily it wasn’t. Thanks to one of those important and costly studies, for which we are raising money today, she was there early. I’m so glad she’s still here.”
Candles in the bush
The presenter also drove for his good friend, who lost his 4-year-old son to the disease. “Everyone who participates has their own story. Along the way I saw countless photos, posters and candles in the roadside of people who didn’t make it.”
Venderbos has so far raised more than 1500 euros for cancer research, but he hopes more donations will come in next week. The SBS team, with which he participated, has so far raised more than 50,000 euros. During the broadcast of Inside today the final standings will be announced on Thursday evening.
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