Zscaler Supports Steve Gibbins' Tour 21 Fundraising

Every year, 176 cyclists and millions of spectators descend on France for one of the most gruelling sporting events in the world, le Tour de France. A race steeped in history, and those who adorn the streets – and the billions of spectators who tune in on TV – do their utmost to empathise with the pain and suffering of the professionals as they ascend climbs such as Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux. 

Few people truly understand the grit, determination, and fitness needed to complete the race. However, the team at Tour 21 are all too familiar with the demanding requirements of le Tour. Every year, one week ahead of the official race, a team of 15 amateur cyclists take to the tarmac and ride the full Tour de France route, and all in the name of a good cause. 

We’re very excited to share that Zscaler will be supporting Steve Gibbins’ Tour 21 Fundraiser for Cure Leukaemia, a blood cancer charity providing patients with access to new and potentially lifesaving treatments by facilitating clinical trials. While great progress is being made, Cure Leukaemia’s work remains vital for so many people. In fact, according to Cancer Research UK:

• There are almost 10,000 new cases of leukaemia each year 
• 4,830 people died from leukaemia between 2017 – 2019
• 41% of people survive leukaemia for 10 or more years
• 12% of leukaemia cases are preventable

Alongside being an enthusiastic amateur cyclist, Steve is the Head of Networks at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) responsible for the cloud-infrastructure transformation of the organisation, a longstanding client of Zscaler and valued customer since 2017. As Steve embarks on the daunting Tour 21 challenge alongside 15 other amateur cyclists, covering an astounding 3500 km in just 21 days from Florence to Nice, his mission to raise £1 million for Cure Leukaemia is nothing short of inspirational.

“Seeing and understanding the incredible work that Cure Leukaemia is doing through the Trial Acceleration Programme, and the incredible progress that has been achieved so far by them, is truly inspirational. However, there is still a way to go before this terrible disease is completely beaten, which is why raising this money is so incredibly important. Zscaler’s support has been truly outstanding and puts fuel in my tank on those tough training days, knowing that this amazing organisation is behind me all the way”, Steve Gibbins adds.

At Zscaler, we’re proud to support one of JLR’s champions as he pedals towards his ambitious fundraising goal, embodying the spirit of perseverance, community, and hope. Hence we have donated £10,000 already, which has contributed to half of Steve’s fund raising target – but our support doesn’t end there.

To bolster our backing, we rallied our London-based team together for a group spin class last week. With over 20 colleagues and Steve himself in attendance, the collective effort provided a huge source of motivation and inspiration as well as showing great team spirit for the cause. Considering how challenging the spin class was for us, we commend Steve as riding 3500 km and climbing more than 52,000 altitude metres in the French and Italian Alps as well as the Pyrenees seems unfathomable!

Roxy Uddin, proud participant of the spin class comments: “Having worked alongside Steve Gibbins and his cloud transformation journey for JLR for two years now, I'm so proud that Zscaler are able to support Steve as he takes on this huge challenge. The spin class itself was great fun (and tougher than expected!) and really brought the whole Zscaler team together to focus on this bigger fundraising task.

On April 23rd, we take the team spirit and fundraising activities to the next level. We’re coming together with JLR at the Velodrome in London, to dive deeper into the Tour 21 feeling, telling you more about Steve's fundraising journey with insights from guest speakers representing charities raising awareness about leukaemia and Tour 21 itself. But that’s not all… we’ll be hopping on our bikes for an exciting track cycling session afterwards.

We're excited to have so many people join us to help Steve to fundraise and spread the word for Cure Leukaemia. You still have time to sign up for our Velodrome Track Day, and you can check out the complete schedule at the link below. We hope to see you there!