Aubrey cyclist Tim Connor told NBC 5 that he plans to spend 10 days in France later this month, watching the Tour de France and riding in the country himself.
The trip is the newest chapter in a story Connor previously told in much greater detail: He began cycling regularly while trying to meet a hospital’s weight requirement to become a kidney donor. He later wrote that he rode for 200 consecutive days before donating a kidney on Jan. 25, 2021.
Connor’s planned France trip is the latest point in a cycling timeline that began with a kidney-donor weight requirement. Reading his new interview alongside his earlier first-person account shows the progression from an initial five-mile ride to weeks of longer training, a kidney donation and, now, a trip built around one of cycling’s premier events.
A hospital requirement came first
In a 2021 first-person account published by Bicycling, Connor wrote that a hospital told him he needed to reach 245 pounds before he could be considered as a kidney donor. Cycling became part of his effort to reach that threshold.
That sequence matters to understanding his current trip. Connor did not describe beginning with a Tour de France goal or a plan to become a high-mileage cyclist. In his account, the immediate objective was to satisfy the donor requirement, and regular riding was one part of the change he made.
Connor wrote that his early rides were five miles. From there, he increased his distance until he was averaging between 75 and 100 miles each week. He also described changing his diet and training with local cyclists as his riding developed.
The numbers provide a concrete measure of that development. A five-mile starting point eventually became a weekly routine totaling many times that distance. His account ties that progression to repeated riding, dietary changes and time spent training with other cyclists in the area.
From a match to 200 straight days
Connor’s account also supplied an unusually local detail about the donation. He wrote that after learning he was a match, he discovered the intended recipient lived five doors away. The account says both Connor and the recipient recovered after the procedure.
Medical details in this story come from Connor’s own published account. His description establishes what he said the hospital required, how he responded and what happened after the match; it does not provide a broader rule about donor eligibility or a recommendation for other prospective donors.
As he worked toward the procedure, Connor said the riding became consistent enough to produce a long streak. He wrote that he cycled for 200 consecutive days and donated the kidney on Jan. 25, 2021.
His account places the donation on Jan. 25, 2021, after 200 straight days of riding. Together with the mileage figures, that streak shows both frequency and distance: Connor said he was not merely taking occasional short rides but had built a sustained routine.
The France plan adds a new milestone
Five years after Connor published that account, NBC 5 reported his next cycling plan. He told the station that his trip would last 10 days and take place later in July. His itinerary, as described in the interview, has two cycling connections: watching the Tour de France and riding while in France.
The new interview is brief on the earlier medical and training history. Connor’s 2021 account fills in that chronology, explaining why cycling entered his life, how his mileage changed and when the donation occurred. The NBC 5 report, in turn, supplies the current destination and timing.
Placed side by side, the two accounts turn the France plan into more than a stand-alone travel item. The trip follows the sequence Connor described: a donor threshold, five-mile rides, a growing weekly total, 200 consecutive riding days and the January 2021 procedure.
The available reporting does not specify where in France Connor expects to ride or which stages of the Tour he plans to watch. What it does establish is the length and purpose of the trip: 10 days in the country, with time devoted both to watching the race and riding.
What changed, according to Connor
Connor’s earlier account gives the clearest comparison between the start of his riding and the routine he later maintained. He went from five-mile outings to an average of 75 to 100 miles a week, while also changing his diet and training with local riders.
Those details keep the story grounded in steps Connor identified himself. The hospital’s 245-pound threshold supplied the initial target. The short rides supplied a starting point. His later weekly mileage and 200-day streak show how much more regularly he said he was riding by the time of the donation.
The nearby recipient is another central part of Connor’s account. He said he learned only after the match that the person lived five doors away. His published version says both of them recovered, but it does not add further medical information about the recipient.
For North Texas readers seeing only the new Tour de France report, that earlier record explains the significance Connor’s cycling carries. The France trip comes after a riding habit that, by his telling, began with an effort to qualify as a living kidney donor and continued through the donation itself.
Two accounts, one clear chronology
The sources cover different moments and serve different purposes. Connor’s 2021 article is a first-person account of the donor requirement, his training progression, the match and the procedure. NBC 5’s July 2026 report is the timely update: He plans to take that established interest in cycling to France for 10 days.
Neither account alone supplies the complete arc. The earlier piece ends with the cycling and donation story but cannot include the newly announced travel plan. The current interview introduces the France trip but contains less of the step-by-step history that explains how Connor reached this point.
Together, they document a progression without requiring assumptions about what comes next. Connor said cycling began as part of reaching a donor threshold. He wrote that it grew from five-mile rides into 75 to 100 miles a week, lasted through a 200-day streak and preceded the Jan. 25, 2021, donation.
Now, according to his NBC 5 interview, Connor is preparing to ride in France and see the Tour de France during a 10-day visit later this month. It is a new destination attached to a cycling practice that Connor’s own earlier account traces back to his effort to donate a kidney.
