Legendary former Brazil striker Ronaldo has begun a lengthy bicycle trip following his promise after his club Real Valladolid won promotion to La Liga.
Ronaldo became the majority owner of Valladolid in September 2018, after buying 51 percent of the club’s shares in a deal worth £25million. In December, the former striker also purchased Brazilian giants Cruzeiro – where he began his glorious playing career.
Valladolid were relegated from La Liga a year ago but have now returned after just a one-year absence after winning automatic promotion from the Segunda, alongside Almeria. Ronaldo promised that if the club won promotion this season, he would embark on the 450km (280 miles) cycle from Valladolid’s stadium to Santiago de Compostela in North-Western Spain, alongside his wife.
The Brazilian explained this weekend, ahead of setting off on his journey on Sunday: “I promised that if we came back [to La Liga], I would do the Camino de Santiago. I will do it by bike as I can’t run. My wife and I will leave from Valladolid on Sunday and travel to Santiago de Compostela by bicycle.”
Ronaldo continued: “It will be beautiful. I know that I will suffer physically but it will be an unforgettable experience.
"When we were relegated, I knew we had to do a lot of work to get back to the first division. I made the promise, we've done a very good job, especially at the beginning of the year, with all the changes we've made, all the philosophy we've changed.”
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It is anticipated that Ronaldo and his wife will be travelling several dozen miles each day along the famous route to Santiago, which has become a famous shrine in the Galician area of Spain.
He and his wife are expected to travel seven dozen kilometres a day along the famous route, which leads to a famous shrine in that Northwest region of the country and a pilgrimage for thousands – who embark on the ‘camino de Santiago’ walk to descend upon the city.
The striker won 18 trophies across his glorious career – which was heavily disrupted by serious knee injuries – including the World Cup titles in 1994 (where he did not play) and 2002. Ronaldo twice won the Ballon d'Or awards in 1997 and 2002.
After beginning his professional career with Cruzeiro, Ronaldo had equally devastating spells at PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan in European football before finishing his career in 2011 with Corinthians.
