Huddersfield Town’s Pedal for Pounds 8 bike ride ended with a triumphant lap of honour around the John Smith’s Stadium – and Town chairman Dean Hoyle paid tribute to one very special rider.

The event saw more than 180 cyclists raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Huddersfield Town Academy during the Keep It Up campaign’s fundraising event.

For the first time the majority of the annual ride – which was sponsored by Huddersfield badge-making company Made By Cooper – was completed overseas as the cyclists took on the 250 mile ride from Dortmund to Huddersfield which paid homage to the journey Head Coach David Wagner and Assistant Head Coach Christoph Bühler completed when joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in November 2015.

Cyclists taking part in the Brian Robinson Cycle Challenge make their way up Chain Road from Marsden.

Huddersfield Town Chairman Dean Hoyle and the other 135 cyclists who took part in the full Wagner Way ride with the rest of the cyclists joining them on the final leg from Hull to Huddersfield on Saturday.

Dean, who completed the ride himself, spoke on the pitch before Town’s final home game against Cardiff City and paid tribute to all the cyclists as they did a lap of honour.

He gave a special mention to Karen Brooke whose life was saved by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. She was a keen cyclist before the devastating accident two years ago when she slipped on ice outside her Elland home. She was leading her horse which, startled at her fall, kicked out and hit Karen on the side of her head, leaving her with brain injuries and able to walk only short distances using a stick. She did the ride on a tandem.

Karen Brooke, of Elland, who is taking part in Pedal4Pounds despite suffering serious brain injuries in a freak fall at home

“It was inspirational and one of the best rides we’ve done, certainly the best put together,” said Dean. “I would like to pay tribute to everyone who took part, especially Karen Brooke whose life was saved by the air ambulance. All of them deserve a massive round of applause.”

The club also hailed Mark Doyle who walked the 80 miles from Hull to Huddersfield, arriving back at 10am on Sunday morning.

The ride began in Dortmund on Thursday and finished 85 miles later that evening in Nijmegen after the riders crossed the border into the Netherlands.

Friday was the longest day for the cyclists as they travelled for 92 miles from their hotel in Nijmegen to the Euro Port back in Rotterdam in time to catch the ferry back to England.

After a night on board the ferry the Wagner Way riders were joined by the 50 Hull to Home cyclists, starting at the ferry port in Hull and ending at the Club’s PPG Canalside Training Ground on Saturday.

Huddersfield Town ambassador Andy Booth is already urging lapsed cyclists to consider joining next year’s Pedal for Pounds charity ride.

The former striker said: “The rides are not easy but you will have a good time and you get to spend time with the chairman and Sean Jarvis (commercial director).”

The club’s previous Pedal for Pounds bike rides have contributed more than £1.4m to the total raised for the campaign since its inception in 2009.

You can still donate some money to the ride; please visit www.justgiving.com/keepitupcampaign or text KIUP99 £5 (or any other amount) to 70070!