Student to cycle 2,500km for charity after his mother overcomes cancer

A determined student will cycle 2,500km across nine countries to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer – after his mother overcame the disease.

As Jesper Hartikainen pedals 200km a day from London to the Finnish capital, Helsinki, he said his mother will often be on his mind.

Mr Hartikainen, 21, was in his second year at the University of Bristol when he got the dreaded call.

“I remember it really vividly,” he said.

“I was in the living room when I saw she was ringing. I knew she had gone for a check-up but I didn’t think anything of the call.

“Mum started breaking down on the phone and I realised what was happening. I just felt helpless.”

His mother, Johanna, underwent multiple operations and radiotherapy for the breast cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early and she made a full recovery.

Now, Mr Hartikainen wants to raise money for Prevent Breast Cancer, which aims to stop the disease through early diagnosis and lifestyle change.

Mr Hartikainen, who studies economics at the University of Bristol, said: “Mum was so lucky that it was caught early, I know people who haven’t been so lucky and it’s exponentially worsened.”

He is training hard for the cross-continental cycle, which will see him pedal through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and finally Finland.

“When I first proposed the idea mum thought I was mental,” Mr Hartikainen said.

“But I’ve kept saying I’m doing it and now she’s really on board. She’s even taking a sabbatical and spending some of it following me in the support car.”

Mr Hartikainen grew up in Weybridge, Surrey, but much of his family lives in Helsinki.

As he nears the finish line, his family, including his mother, will be out to support him.

His mother, a risk manager in a bank, said: “I am incredibly proud of Jesper for taking on such a mammoth challenge raising money for a very worthy cause.

“I am hoping that his challenge will help raise awareness of the importance of check-ups which can result in early diagnosis and easier treatment of breast cancer.”

Mr Hartikainen is no stranger to hard exercise. As a teenager he was in the London Irish rugby academy for five years was called up to an England training camp.

After tearing his ACL and meniscus in 2020, he moved into cycling, and he now takes part in bicycle and triathlon races.

“Part of me genuinely worries that I’ll hit some kind of wall and won’t even be able to spin the pedals. But the other half of me knows that I won’t let that happen, because the reason I’m doing it is more than enough motivation,” he said.

Mr Hartikainen sets out in July after finishing his degree at the University of Bristol.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time studying in Bristol, meeting some amazing people and creating some great friendships along the way,” he said.

“In a way it’s starting to really feel like home and I would love to return to this incredible city in the future.”