René Beltjens is a brilliant business man, co‑founder of Alter Domus amongst many more accolades, but as a young family man he had to endure the very hardest family situation. His young wife was diagnosed with breast cancer aged just 30 right after the birth of their third child. Due to a new treatment at that time, she was given another few years of life, priceless for their entire young family.
René is now giving back to Saint-Luc, the place where she was treated, by undertaking a cross-section cycle of Europe with teammates Sander van der Fluit and Marc Bijlsma to raise €1m towards specific breast cancer research.
2 Wheels for Purpose began with a simple dinner between lifelong friends and grew into an ambitious cycling expedition from Tallinn to Gibraltar, 7,000km crossing 22 countries, matching physical endurance with the resilience of patients and families fighting cancer.
Professor François Duhoux, Head of Medical Oncology at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels, will be leading the research project from the money raised. Breast cancer treatment has evolved from a one-size-fits-all model to increasingly personalised care, using tumour characteristics, mutations and 3D organoids, 'avatars' of the tumour, to test which drugs may work best before treatment begins.
Prof Duhoux also stressed that cancer care is no longer only about treating the tumour. At Saint-Luc's Institut Roi Albert II, patients are supported by doctors, nurses, psychologists, dieticians, physiotherapists, social workers and volunteers, with art therapy and other well-being tools helping patients better tolerate treatment and improve quality of life.
“We don’t treat tumours, we treat patients with cancer.”
That holistic approach was echoed by Tessa Schmidburg, Secretary General of Fondation Saint-Luc, who described the foundation as a bridge between generosity and progress. She said its role is to accelerate "the excellence and the humanity" of care, supporting medical research, innovation and patient wellbeing through donations from individuals, families and companies.
Andy Schleck, former Tour de France winner lost his mother quite recently to cancer and in her final year during visits, Andy would always try to transit positive ideas. That was until she told her son that enduring the treatments is much harder than a Tour de France.
Andy does have a little cycling advice (and perhaps it's not just for the road) for René and his fellow cyclists:
“When the road is long you go kilometre by kilometre. When the road gets hard you focus on the next corner.”
Cancer reshapes family life during the treatment, and also afterwards. René described commuting between Luxembourg and Brussels, protecting weekends as sacred time with his children, and navigating the fear and uncertainty that comes with a diagnosis in the family. He also explained why his daughters' decisions about genetic screening raised difficult questions about health, privacy and insurance, even though medical guidance strongly supports testing where there is a family history.
The first thing is awareness
Nimkee Gupta was diagnosed with aggressive ovarian cancer in 2023. She spoke candidly about treatment in both India and Luxembourg, the difficulty in recognising ovarian cancer, and the importance of language in changing how people respond to the disease. Nimkee also speaks about how ovarian cancer and other women's cancers remain under-researched. Data, scale and gender bias all matter.
There should be no shame through cancer
Nimkee is passionate about the healing power of music, art, movement and food became part of her recovery, and she described learning to use minimal mobilisation, swimming, and Ayurveda as part of a sustainable approach to wellbeing. The conversation offered a thoughtful reminder that treatment does not end when chemotherapy or similar ends; recovery continues in the body, mind and family circle.
Prof Duhoux also highlighted a crucial public-health message: breast cancer screening rates remain too low, and early detection makes a major difference.
Beltjens said the goal of Two Wheels for Purpose aims to also create a ripple effect: a community of ambassadors who speak openly about cancer and encourage others to act.
Purpose grows when people turn private pain into public progress.
