Lewis Moody completed a 500-mile ride to fight MND and brought a powerful message to Twickenham
Lewis Moody, the former captain of the England rugby team and a member of the squad that won the 2003 World Cup, completed on 20 June 2026 an exceptionally emotional 500-mile charity ride, approximately 805 kilometres, from Newcastle to Twickenham. The challenge ended with his arrival at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham ahead of the Gallagher PREM final, giving the conclusion of the English club season a powerful humanitarian tone. According to information from the organisers and the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the ride was launched to raise money for research into motor neurone disease and to further raise awareness of life with this progressive neurological disease. Moody publicly announced last year that he had been diagnosed with ALS, or motor neurone disease, and since then he has increasingly directed his sporting reputation toward fundraising and rallying the community around MND research. His arrival in Twickenham was therefore not only the end of a physical challenge but also a public moment of solidarity with patients, their families and researchers seeking more effective therapies.
The route from Newcastle to Twickenham
The charity ride, presented as the Lewis Moody XV Cycle Challenge, began on 14 June in Newcastle and ended on 20 June, the day of the Gallagher PREM final. According to an announcement by the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, Moody led a group called “The Lewis XV”, made up of former teammates, friends, family members and well-known figures from rugby. The route also had symbolic value because it connected places linked to Moody’s life and career, including Oakham School, Leicester Tigers, Bath and Bracknell, his first club. Ahead of the finale, TNT Sports reported that the route also passed through Ripon, Worcester and other communities where meetings, school activities, club visits and donation collections were organised. In this way, the ride grew into a moving series of public events, not merely a sporting undertaking by a closed group of cyclists.
The finish in Twickenham carried additional symbolism because Moody and his team were due to deliver the ball for the Gallagher PREM final. According to official information from PREM Rugby, the final on 20 June 2026 was scheduled at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, and according to the official schedule the finalists were Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs. Moody’s arrival thus connected elite club rugby with a humanitarian campaign whose aim was to draw attention to MND at a moment when the sport had a large audience. Such a combination of a major sporting event and the personal story of a former international further highlighted the way in which the rugby community has in recent years become involved in campaigns for research into this disease. According to the Press Association, during the challenge Moody stressed that he wanted to “turn up the noise” around MND and continue the work started before him by other prominent athletes and humanitarians.
The emotions that marked every part of the challenge
During the ride, Moody spoke several times about the emotional weight of the challenge. According to a Press Association report after the fifth stage in Bath, he described the ride as a period of physical pain, but also as an “emotional tidal wave”, emphasising that he sees the burden he carries as privileged because it enables him to help others. From his statements after the stages, it was clear that he was affected not only by the miles, fatigue and saddle pain, but also by encounters with people who had MND or had lost family members to the disease. It was precisely these encounters that turned the challenge into a public testimony about a disease that often progresses quickly and changes the everyday lives of patients and those closest to them. In that context, Moody’s arrival in Twickenham was experienced as a moment in which personal vulnerability met collective support.
One of the most emotional moments occurred earlier in the week in Oakham, where Moody returned to the school where his rugby journey began. The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation reported that he was welcomed there by hundreds of pupils, parents, teachers and members of the local community. In his honour, the school renamed its well-known Doncaster Close 1st XV pitch LM7: The Lewis Moody Pitch, a powerful symbol of respect for his career and his current campaign. His goddaughter Renee Lloyd, daughter of Moody’s former teammate Leon Lloyd, gave an emotional speech that further marked that return. According to reports from the event, Oakham showed exactly how much Moody’s story had grown beyond a sporting biography and become a message about friendship, gratitude and perseverance.
The rugby community gathered around Moody
Moody did not ride alone. According to the Press Association, Kathy Weir and her son Hamish, the family of the late Scotland international Doddie Weir, whose name and legacy are at the heart of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, joined him from the start of the route. Moody was also accompanied by his wife Annie and sons Dylan and Ethan, which gave the challenge a deeply personal dimension. Former England internationals Martin Johnson and Martin Corry were among those who followed him along the route, while Kenny Logan, Geordan Murphy, Louis Deacon and Joe Worsley were also mentioned as part of the wider support. Such a group gave the ride the character of a collective rugby response to a disease that has deeply affected the sporting community in recent years.
The importance of this support is also clear because of the broader context of MND in British and international rugby. Doddie Weir, the former Scotland international, died in 2022 after living with MND, and according to reports his foundation has raised more than £23.5 million for research and programmes connected with the disease. Rob Burrow, the former rugby league star, died in 2024 after a years-long battle with MND, while his friend Kevin Sinfield led a series of highly visible charity challenges in his honour. Moody has taken on a new public role in that sequence, not as someone who wants to draw attention solely to himself, but as a person using his experience to strengthen an existing movement. According to the Press Association, by the Thursday before the end of the ride the Lewis Moody XV Ride had raised more than £350,000, and the amount was expected to continue increasing after the finale in Twickenham.
The diagnosis that changed the former captain’s public role
Moody publicly announced his diagnosis in October 2025, after the disease had been diagnosed the previous month. Sky Sports and Sky News then reported his message in which he stated that it was ALS, also known as motor neurone disease, and that the news had been a major shock for him and his family. In the same announcements, he emphasised that he felt well, that he was focused on a positive approach and that he wanted to deal with the changes ahead as they appeared. The announcement resonated strongly because Moody is known in rugby as a player of exceptional energy, a former England captain and one of the recognisable members of the generation that won the World Cup in 2003. After ending his professional career in 2012, he had already been active in charity work, and the new MND campaign built on his earlier inclination toward public action beyond the sports field.
In announcing the ride, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation stated that Moody saw the challenge as a way to act while he was still physically able to take part in such an undertaking. That message gave additional weight to the decision to embark on a seven-day, 500-mile ride. In sporting terms, the route recalled elements of endurance, discipline and team support that marked Moody’s playing career. In humanitarian terms, it became a call for investment in scientific research and the development of more effective therapies. Moody’s statement that he feels as if he has taken the baton from Weir, Burrow and Sinfield shows that he sees this challenge as part of a continuum, not as a one-off event.
What motor neurone disease is
Motor neurone disease is a collective term for a group of neurological diseases that gradually damage the nerve cells responsible for sending messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles. According to the NHS, MND causes muscle weakness that worsens over months or years, is most often life-shortening and currently has no cure. Symptoms vary from person to person, but can include weakness in the arms and legs, cramps, muscle twitches, problems with speech, swallowing, movement and breathing. The MND Association states that the disease can affect mobility, communication, eating and breathing, while sight, hearing and touch are usually not directly affected. Although the disease cannot be stopped or reversed, available therapies, medicines, aids and multidisciplinary care can help manage symptoms and preserve quality of life.
For the sporting public, MND is particularly visible because of a number of well-known cases among former athletes, but expert sources stress that the disease is complex and cannot be reduced to a single explanation. The NHS states that the causes for most patients are not fully clear and that a combination of genetic and other factors is thought to play a role. In Moody’s case, the public focus is not on simple conclusions, but on the need for research, earlier recognition of symptoms, better care and funding for projects that can accelerate the development of therapies. That is why the messages from the ride were not aimed only at rugby fans. They addressed everyone who follows stories about rare and serious diseases, scientific progress and the role of public figures in fundraising.
Why Twickenham was a powerful finishing point
Twickenham is one of the most recognisable places in English and world rugby, so the finish of the ride on the day of the Gallagher PREM final had a special resonance. According to official PREM Rugby data, the 2026 final is being held on 20 June at Allianz Stadium, as the culmination of the club season. Moody’s entry into that space, after seven days of riding and hundreds of miles, symbolically connected his playing past with a new public mission. For fans, it was a reminder that sporting competitions can also be a platform for broader social messages. For people with MND and their families, that moment had additional value because the disease was placed at the centre of attention during one of the most watched rugby days in England.
The campaign does not end there. The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation emphasises that its long-term vision is a world free of MND, and it directs donations toward research that should accelerate the development of more effective treatments. In his statements during the challenge, Moody said he believes that more effective therapies are within reach, but that they require funds, research projects and public support. His ride therefore leaves a double message: a personal one, because it shows how one athlete is coping with a difficult diagnosis, and a public one, because it reminds us that progress in treatment depends on long-term investment. In Twickenham on 20 June 2026, one ride ended, but at the same time the fight that Moody, the foundation and the wider rugby community want to make louder and more effective continued.
Sources:
- My Name’5 Doddie Foundation – announcement of Lewis Moody’s charity ride from Newcastle to Twickenham and the goals of the MND campaign (link)
- My Name’5 Doddie Foundation – report on the emotional welcome at Oakham School during the third day of the challenge (link)
- TNT Sports – report on the Lewis Moody XV Cycle Challenge, the route and the finale in Twickenham (link)
- Press Association / Anglo Celt – Lewis Moody’s statements, information on participants, funds raised and the context of the Gallagher PREM final (link)
- PREM Rugby – official information on the 2026 Gallagher PREM final at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham (link)
- Sky News – public announcement of Lewis Moody’s diagnosis and reactions after confirmation of motor neurone disease (link)
- NHS – medical information on motor neurone disease, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment (link)
- MND Association – explanation of motor neurone disease, its impact on everyday life and available support (link)