Braveheart raises £40,000 for aspiring Scottish cyclists
By Gregor Brown in Kilmarnock, Scotland The Braveheart Cycling Fund raised just short of £40,000 for...
By Gregor Brown in Kilmarnock, Scotland
The Braveheart Cycling Fund raised just short of £40,000 for young Scottish cyclists at its annual dinner on Saturday. Cycling celebrities, like Chris Hoy and Mark Cavendish, participated in the auction and fund raising event in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
Former Team Motorola professional Brian Smith started the fund in 2003 to help Scottish cyclists. Road, track and mountain bike racers receive financial support from the charity.
It was the fifth year that Braveheart held its fundraising dinner. Cycling's elite donated items to help pull in the crowds for the cause. Olympic gold medallist and Scot Chris Hoy was the star of the evening hosted by David Harmon. Cavendish, Thor Hushovd, Daniel Martin, Scott Sunderland, Hendrik Redant and Sean Kelly also helped make the evening a success. Tour de France Champion Carlos Sastre was present via a special dedicated video message.
Auctioneer Alan Hewitt led the bidding on the donated cycling memorabilia following a dinner. Top items included Robert Millar's mountain classification jersey from the 1984 Tour de France and a maillot jaune from CSC-Saxo Bank's Sastre and Sunderland. The original jersey donated by Scot Millar drew in the most money ever raised for an item in the dinner's history, £3200.
Supporters raised £30,000 of the £40,000 (€49,530) from the dinner and around £10,000 came from advance donations.
Money raised helps riders like Gareth Montgomerie. The organisation awarded the 25 year-old from Castle Douglas on stage as Braveheart Cyclist of the Year. He is a mountain biker for team Colnago/Ergon/Singletrack Magazine and is considering a switch to road for the coming Commonwealth Games.
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