On 15 August, this year's Tour of Hope began for around 180 cyclists with the prologue in Giessen. They started at 10 a.m. on the premises of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) in Lahnstraße. Beforehand, Giessen's mayor Dietlind Grabe-Bolz and the two SWG board members Manfred Siekmann and Reinhard Paul welcomed the participants and wished them every success in their mission for a good cause. Manfred Siekmann explained: "As a long-standing partner, we are delighted to be able to support the organisers in organising and hosting the event." His colleague Reinhard Paul added: "We wish all the cyclists a lot of fun on the tour and hope that the donation pot will be well filled."
For the 29th time this year, politicians, entrepreneurs, amateur athletes and former competitive athletes will be cycling in the Tour of Hope to collect donations for children with leukaemia and cancer. Professor Fritz Lampert, a doctor from Giessen, launched the Tour of Hope in 1983. Since then, the prologue has traditionally taken place in Giessen, but the routes lead through different regions of Germany. In 2012, the cyclists and around 40 helpers covered a total of 282 kilometres over four days. This year, the tour leads through Franconia - with the start and finish locations Schweinfurt, Würzburg, Herzogenaurach, Roth, Kulmbach and Bamberg.
More information about the Tour of Hope is available online at www.tour-der-hoffnung.de.