One More City

RCC London member Christine O’Connell founded One More City (OMC) in 2018. The project evolved from a 24-hour London–Paris ride the year before that raised money for breast cancer services. Christine’s own personal journey, having been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in 2018 has propelled OMC forwards. With secondary cancer, treatment is lifelong and research ongoing. One More City’s ethos – always progressing towards the next city – reflects this. “The challenge is never over” says Christine, declaring the desire to overcome for both riders and researchers is resolute.

Since then, OMC have supported research into secondary breast cancer, first at Imperial College London and now at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London. The campaign has expanded internationally, with rides taking place in multiple cities around the world and supporting local and national research institutions.

This year’s One More City challenge saw 35 cyclists ride from Pisa to Nice, covering 600km and 7,000m of elevation in 4 days. Our capsule collection celebrates the event and supports the One More City’s vital work.

By buying, wearing, and sharing this jersey, you are helping us tell the story of this vital work and directly supporting the scientists who are working to change the future for people living with the disease.

To date, OMC has fully funded two PhD students currently at the ICR, and one at Imperial who completed their doctorate last year. This year, the aim is to raise funding for a Clinical Research Fellow at the ICR.

We visited the ICR labs in Chelsea, West London to meet with Christine, Dr Rachael Natrajan and Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno and discover more about the work One More City supports.

Dr. Natrajan rode One More City in 2024, motivated by the experience of her mother’s own battle with breast cancer. She heads up the Functional Genomics lab at the ICR, which focuses on the interplay of genetics and microenvironmental changes in aggressive forms of breast cancer. The first PhD student funded by One More City now works in Dr. Natrajan’s team. They use patient-derived cells and profiling techniques to study tumours and to find ways to spot resistance early and devise new treatment plans.

Dr. Natrajan describes Christine herself as a “phenomenal inspiration. During those transient moments of pain where I momentarily felt like giving up, I reminded myself what she has been through and what she is still going through – and that spurred me on. She is truly remarkable.” Within the One More City community, she’s been a key link between the challenge and it’s cause.

“Thinking about what you’re raising money for and having such a fantastic team of riders around you is also hugely motivating. They are all riding for the same reason, a community dedicated to the cause, and I was glad to be able to talk them through the science and put their fundraising into context. They were all enthused by the science and what the ICR is doing.”

A pivotal individual in this year’s kit story is Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno. One OMC funded PhD student currently works in her lab, and this year’s funds will support an additional Clinical Research Fellow to join her team too.

Breast cancer becomes life-threatening when it spreads beyond the breast to other parts of the body, in a process called metastasis. Understanding exactly how cancer cells escape the original tumour and travel elsewhere is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research.

Professor Sanz-Moreno’s lab works on exactly this. Her team decipher how metastatic cancer cells interact with their microenvironment while evading anti-cancer therapies. The ultimate goal is to find anti-metastasis therapies. Her crucial work is the inspiration for this year’s jersey design.

Rapha designer, Santi Roig Dinarès, spent time with Professor Sanz-Moreno’s team to inform the design of this year’s One More City jersey. Specifically, looking at microscopic images of the extracellular matrix and cytoskeleton. To make these structures visible, fluorescent dyes are used to stain proteins such as collagen, producing vivid patterns that reveal the altered pathways cancer cells exploit. These images inspired the multicoloured line work on the jersey, combined with floral motifs, a One More City design theme symbolising resilience and renewal.