Pamplona (EFE).- The Luzón Foundation, led by Juan Carlos Unzué, has received 24,242 euros from the Kosner-Saltoki Home team, a participant in the Titan Desert held in Morocco in May, an amount that will be used to fight against ALS.
That amount of money corresponds to the sum of the kilometers traveled by the members of the team during the race.
Up to the event, held at the Saltoki Home headquarters, Juan Carlos Unzué attended; the participating cyclist Miguel Induráin; the director of Saltoki Home, Óscar Zandueta; and the managing coordinator of the Luzón Foundation, Sonia Sánchez de Bernardo.
Unzué: “This donation will help a lot”
The protagonist of the event, Juan Carlos Unzué, after thanking the team for their efforts, stated that “this donation will greatly help this cause in need of financial resources due to the lack of aid in our country.”
“Sometimes you feel that you are removed from this world when you have this disease. These types of initiatives should be added to all the public initiatives that should exist, but today, these initiatives are essential. We need them to continue doing it because unfortunately the politicians don’t seem to listen to us, ”Unzué pointed out during his speech.
“When you get into an event like this, it seems easy, with help, the team… but it’s a complicated challenge and sometimes there was a bit of a ball,” Miguel Induráin noted, adding that the desert “is what they tell you is one thing and another Live it live.”
The five-time Tour champion assures that he hardly got angry during the experience, except “with the sand, sometimes it was very difficult for me. I am road and walk on asphalt. It is part of the desert, at times you have to get off and take the bike on your shoulder”. “The conditions are tough and demanding. Although you have help, you have to know where you are going”, continued the man from Villava.
A team of 39 components
The director of Saltoki Home explained the origin of the initiative: “We wanted this sporting and human project to also have a solidarity component, something that rounded off this adventure and, ultimately, gave meaning to so much effort and dedication.”
Zandueta addressed the 39 members of the team, including company workers, customers and professional cyclists: “They have been true titans and we are very proud of you.”
“Having Miguel Induráin was an example, an inspiration and a plus of motivation, but it was also a plus to know that with each pedal stroke they were contributing to the fight against ALS”, he continued.
a historical landmark
The participation of the Kosner-Saltoki Home team in the latest edition of the Titan, in addition to having a clear solidarity aspect through this initiative, also meant a historic milestone for being the team with the most ‘finishers’ in the history of the test in the Moroccan desert, with 38 ‘titans’ crossing the finish line.
In addition, the team won the women’s general, with Tessa Kortekaas as the winner, and in the Mixed Duo category, with the victory of Iosu Torres and Ainara Elbusto.
For her part, Sonia Sánchez de Bernardo stated that “every drop of sweat, every pedal stroke, every kilometer completed, for ALS is an addition to hope.”
He has spoken of “promoting research” and has said that the amount will be used to “promote a national registry of ALS patients. We lack data, all the research on clinical variables so that you can implement knowledge of the disease”.