A Norman goes around France by bicycle in tribute to his missing brother

The big departure took place on Monday May 5, 2025. For the third time in ten years, Gilles Leboucher set for the objective of browsing, by bicycle, the complete tour of France, in the direction of the needles of a watch.

Party of Lisieux (Calvados), this 67 -year -old amateur cyclist must join the North, then the Ardennes, Alsace, Alps, Côte d’Azur, Corsica, Mediterranean, Pyrenees, the Basque Country, the Atlantic Coast and Brittany before finding Normandy.

His 6000km journey will stop where he started, in the capital of the Pays d’Auge. The arrival is scheduled in two months.

His brother disappeared for four years

The retiree from the Sanofi factory has chosen to mediate his sporting feat to pay tribute to his older brother, Patrick, who has been missing since September 12, 2021. That day, Patrick Leboucher left to jog in the Lexovian campaign and never returned to his home.

Despite important research and an in -law investigation, no one knows what happened to this experienced marathonian.

“I don’t want to be forgotten. The call to witness is still relevant. If people know something, they have to address the gendarmerie, even anonymously. Our family has been in despair for four years. Sadness and tears are our daily lives ”.

When the kilometers are linked, the roads rise, and the rain or the wind get involved, the organisms are put to the test.

But Gilles will be able to count on his guardian angel to outdo himself. “During my previous round of France, two years ago, I went through difficult times. I thought of Patrick, he gave me the strength to continue, because I know that he would never have abandoned. ”

A hundred km a day

For this new challenge, the sportsman bought a Gravel Bike, a bicycle suitable for all terrains and more comfortable on long distances. “I have had it for two months, we have prepared it with my friends at the Cycle Evasion store. I rolled about 80 km every two days, to make one with the machine ”.

If he wants to reach his goal, Gilles Leboucher must travel a hundred km a day.

“I have a good bike, I trained, I’m going to do everything to go to the end. I’m going early in the morning, driving quietly. It is not a race ”.

In the evening, he planned to stop at a campsite. “I brought the necessary equipment”. And if there is no campsite, he will sleep under the stars.

“I take full eyes”

One thing is certain, Gilles will (re) discover magnificent landscapes. “I take full eyes every time.”

The public can follow his adventure on a daily basis, following the Facebook page “The Gilles Leboucher journey”. “I publish a post every night. I put photos, I also tell a few anecdotes. The messages of encouragement of readers do me good and carry me ”assures the cyclist, who would like to thank his partner, Cathy, for having let him go so long.

Gilles’s adventure is to follow on the Facebook page “The Gilles Leboucher journey”.

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