Unlike the pros, Amy won’t have a team car, a bus or a peloton. It’s just her, her husband Kyle, and a simple plan: start a week before the pros, take two rest days, and finish a day ahead of the official race.
For someone who only started cycling four years ago, it’s a massive leap — and one that shows what ordinary riders can achieve with extraordinary determination.
What the challenge involves
Amy’s challenge is to ride:
- Every stage of the 2025 Tour de France — the same ones the pros race.
- Every transfer between stages, including one transfer of over 540 kilometres.
- A total distance of more than 6,300 kilometres in 30 days.
- Continually with just two rest days built into her schedule.
“I originally wanted to do it in the same time as the pros,” Amy says. “But with the massive transfers this year, I had to be realistic. I didn’t want to set myself up to fail.”
She’ll be starting a week before the peloton and plans to finish in Paris just a day before the race concludes, cutting it close, but giving herself a fighting chance.
Planning every kilometre
While the Tour de France stages are well-known, riding them as an amateur comes with extra challenges, like dealing with open traffic and navigating massive transfers. Amy planned the entire route herself, carefully piecing it together stage by stage.
“The stages are kind of easy because they’re already planned,” she says. “But obviously, the pros have the roads closed, and I don’t. So, if there’s a main road that’s unsafe, I’ve had to divert around it.”
The transfers were even trickier. Some are over 500 kilometres long, and Amy has had to find safe, rideable routes for all of them.
“I love planning routes. I always use Komoot or Garmin, zoom in on the roads, drop the little man in on Google Street View, check that it’s a nice road, not gravel,” she says. “I’m trying to pick quieter roads when I can.”
To make the distances more manageable, Amy has split up some of the stages and transfers creatively. “Some days I might ride a whole stage and half a transfer. Other days it’s half a stage and a full transfer. It just depends on the day and where there are places to stay.”
Kyle is her support team
Amy’s setup is minimal. No race team, no logistics squad, just her husband Kyle in a ŠKODA supporting her along the way.
“When we go to France, it’s literally just going to be me and Kyle,” she says. “He’s going to meet me halfway through the day to give me lunch, then drive to wherever we’re staying. He’ll be editing the YouTube videos too, which I’m a bit scared about. I’m not going to be in control of what goes out!”
Kyle has been learning video editing in preparation, but his main job is simple: keep Amy going.
“He said he’s going to be the chief snack supplier, mechanic, and just husband, really.”
In fact, Kyle is planning to ride the last stretch of each day with Amy, keeping her company and getting his own miles in ahead of a big joint challenge they’ll tackle together next year.
Two bikes, just in case
Amy is planning for the worst and hoping for the best. She’ll bring two bikes, her regular road bike and a gravel bike fitted with road tyres, to give her the option of different riding positions if she starts to develop saddle sores or other overuse injuries.
“I’ve had saddle sores before, and it’s awful,” she says. “Having two different bikes will help change things up if I need to.”
She’s also made sure her gearing is ready for the climbs. “My road bike came with a 30 cassette, but I swapped it for a 34. I’m even thinking about going bigger, maybe a 36, because after days and days of climbing, I’ll probably want an easier gear.”
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Other essentials on her packing list include:
- Fly spray (because bites are no joke on long rides).
- Chamois Butt’r cream (lots of it).
- A towel or flannel to wipe off sweat.
- An ice vest to keep the core body temperature in check.
- Her lucky mascot, Piccolo the stuffed boar, who’s ridden with her on all her big adventures.
Follow her ride
Amy’s ride isn’t just personal. She’s raising funds for the mental health charity Shout, and she’s inviting others to be part of the journey.
“There’s going to be a live tracker,” she says. “If anyone’s around and wants to come ride, they can find me.”
Even brief encounters with local riders could lift her spirits during long days on the road. Whether you want to join her for a part of her journey or just want to follow online, here is the tracker.
She’s had support from brands like Škoda, Pinarello, Rouvy, CAMS, MET Cycling Helmets, Panaracer Tyres, Chamois Butt’r, and Santini, helping make the project possible. But as Amy puts it, the real motivator isn’t gear or sponsorships. It’s knowing the impact her ride might have on someone struggling.
About Amy Hudson
Amy Hudson is a British endurance cyclist and mental health advocate who fell in love with cycling just four years ago. Since then, she’s completed challenging ultra-distance events, including the North Coast 500, a 24-hour time trial, Paris-Brest-Paris (1,200 km), All Points North (1,000 km), and Land’s End to John o’Groats – a classic end-to-end ride covering nearly 1,400 km across the UK. From overcoming personal struggles to chasing the limits of endurance, Amy now shares her passion through her YouTube channel, Instagram, and Strava, inspiring others to set big goals – no matter where they started.
