Soaring temperatures made it a tough ride for the 60 cyclists participating in the 1226 km tour from Denmark to the Massey Ferguson tractor factory in France but the pack made a triumphant entry into the Beauvais plant bang on schedule on 3 July.

Sporting Massey Ferguson-branded kit and escorted by police outriders, the cyclists in the MF Tour de Beauvais 2015 were loudly applauded by employees on arrival at the factory.

“At one point in Belgium the temperature hit 40 degrees - it was incredibly demanding to be riding a bike in that kind of heat,” says Christian Devantier, Director Distribution Management Nordics and Baltic, AGCO Danmark A/S and chief organiser of the event. “We climbed the notorious 128 m Mur de Huy in the Ardennes at what seemed like a relatively cool 30 degrees! Along the way, there were lots of punctures, some mechanical problems and one of our riders fell off and broke his collar bone.”

“However, everyone rose magnificently to the challenge to overcome the difficulties of the route and the weather,” Christian adds. “It was very satisfying to finally see the Massey Ferguson signs at the factory gates and we all felt a massive sense of achievement as we were greeted by employees and by many of our relatives who had travelled from Denmark to celebrate with us.”

The cyclists included staff from Massey Ferguson, its Dealers and associates together with a number of customers. Starting at Brørup in Southern Denmark, the tour took seven days travelling at an average speed of 28 km/h.

“Many congratulations to all the riders. It was an exceptionally demanding journey and we were very proud to have such a challenging endeavour fly the Massey Ferguson flag from Brørup to Beauvais,” says Campbell Scott, Massey Ferguson Director Marketing Services.