Lewis Moody will take on a 500-mile cycling challenge in June to raise money and awareness in the fight against motor neurone disease (MND).
The former England captain revealed that he had been diagnosed with MND in October, and he and a number of former teammates will now cycle for seven days in the lead up to the Gallagher Prem final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday 20 June.
Moody’s route will begin at Kingston Park, home of the Newcastle Red Bulls, and take in his former clubs Leicester Tigers and Bath, as well as Bracknell RFC, where he began his rugby journey as a five-year-old.
The former flanker will raise money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation (MNDF), the leading MND charity established by the late Scottish rugby icon, Doddie Weir. The foundation has committed more than £23.5m to MND research programmes and provided upwards of £2m to families affected by the disease.
Among those due to ride alongside Moody are fellow 2003 World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall, while the 47-year-old will also have teenage sons Dylan and Ethan for company.
“Since retiring from playing in 2012, I’ve taken on a fundraising challenge every year, and I’m determined to do the same in 2026, despite living with MND. I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll have to push myself in this way, which is why taking on this 500-mile cycling challenge now feels so important as I look to support the fight against the disease.
“But this is about far more than the miles. Like so much of life, it’s about people – mates coming together, supporting each other, finding strength in camaraderie, and really hoping we can make a difference.
“Above all, it’s about using that energy, and the platform I’m fortunate to have, to make as big an impact as possible for everyone living with MND – raising vital funds for the MNDF, accelerating progress, and helping drive the change and outcomes this community so urgently needs. I want to do everything in my power to make a difference, building on the work of giants who have gone before me.”
Moody’s challenge will start on Sunday 14 June, while he is due to deliver the match ball at Twickenham before the English top-flight decider.
Capped 71 times by England and a 2005 British and Irish Lions tourist, the ex-back rower founded The Lewis Moody Foundation after his retirement to promote awareness of brain tumours in children.
He now throws his support behind the organisation founded by the late Weir after his MND diagnosis in 2016. The former Scotland lock died in 2022.
“The [My Name’5 Doddie] foundation has done incredible work,” Moody said. “Doddie was a pioneer and was a force of a nature as a character. I feel that I am being brought off the bench to take that baton forward and trying to get this job done. That sounds like an easy thing to say, but it is a very difficult thing to achieve. Whether that is in my lifetime or not, I very much intend to give my energy and time to a cause that’s worthwhile and one I genuinely believe will produce outcomes.
“Being in a privileged position of having a platform to use, I want to have the biggest impact possible. There is a slightly selfish element to the next part of this, which is the cycle challenge, as I have done a challenge every year since retiring. Some years I have done more than one. I really wanted to make sure that I got another one in. I don’t know how many I have got left to do so ther reason for it being so soon to make sure that physically I feel like I can contribute and get through it.”
The Lewis Moody & Friends Cycle Challenge is a 500-mile, seven-day cycling challenge from Kingston Park Stadium, Newcastle, to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, taking place from 14-20 June 2026. For more information or to support the challenge, please visit: https://uk.emma-live.com/LewisMoodyCycle.
