Good humour, a good atmosphere and motivation were the order of the day last Friday at the 18^th edition of the Télévie Spinning Challenge 2024 at RTL City in Kirchberg.

In total, over 200 employees and public figures gathered at RTL City and cycled a total of 3001.50 kilometres on 25 spinning bikes, motivated by four coaches and a DJ. They all came together for one common goal: to raise as much money as possible for cancer research. For each kilometre cycled, RTL Group donated €18.33 to Télévie.

Shortly before 15:00, the DJ set the mood. Then, for four and a half hours non-stop, the colleagues took turns to cycle for 30 minutes on the spinning bikes. The final session at 19:00 was broadcast live on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.

Among the participants were Elmar Heggen, Deputy CEO and COO of RTL Group, and Christophe Goossens, CEO of RTL Luxembourg and CEO of BCE, alongside the Luxembourgish politicians Max Hahn and Martine Hansen.

Diane Wunsch, Télévie coordinator, said: “I am delighted with the huge commitment to Télévie shown by RTL colleagues and people from Luxembourg during this year's event. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the Télévie Challenge!”

Once again this year, RTL Group was able to raise and donate €55,000 to Télévie. The cheque was handed over by Elmar Heggen to Zoé Summer, a student reporter who is also a cancer survivor.

Elmar Heggen, Deputy CEO and COO of RTL Group, said: ”As a media company, we have a special responsibility. By supporting Télévie, we are raising awareness, mobilising resources and fostering a sense of community. It's not just about financial contributions, it's about using our reach to promote cancer research.”

The traditional pasta party brought the day to a close, with everyone sharing a moment together and enjoying a delicious pasta dish donated by Sodexo. 

About Télévie

Télévie is a charitable operation organised in Belgium by the RTL-TVI channel since 1989 for the benefit of the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS). The aim of the charity is to raise funds to help cancer and leukaemia research. Each year, the charity ends with a live gala evening broadcast on TV and radio by RTL-TVI, Bel RTL and the RTL Luxembourg channels.

Since 2001, the Kiwanis Luxembourg Foundation has been Télévie's exclusive partner in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Since 2002, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg has been participating alongside the Belgian channel and has also organised a big closing evening simultaneously with RTL-TVI. In 2012, a partnership agreement was concluded between the Kiwanis Luxembourg Foundation and Télévie Luxembourg.

The Télévie Challenge involves as many people as possible (employees, politicians and athletes) pedalling on indoor exercise bikes to accumulate as many kilometres as possible. RTL Group pledges a donation to the Télévie association for each kilometre recorded. The first Télévie Spinning Challenge in Luxembourg took place in 2005. Since then, colleagues from all RTL Group entities have raised over €1 million for cancer and leukaemia research.