I love to ride my bike. A lot. Some might call it an obsession. Now i'm going to channel that obsession productively...

I'm honoured, priviliged and thrilled to have been selected for the Tour 21 team in 2025. Along with 24 other amateurs, in June and July 2025, I will be cycling the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the professional race.

The Tour de France is the hardest bike race in the world and 2025 will be no exception. The full route will be announced in October but we'll be starting in Lille on 28 June before rolling into Paris on 20 July 2025, champagne flute in hand. In between, we'll have covered 21 stages and, based on previous years, ridden ±3,500km (±2,200 miles) climbing ±55,000m. In short, a monumental challenge for mere mortals.

I'm not doing this (just) for the personal challenge or bragging rights, it's for a phenomenally important cause. The team will be raising £1 million for Cure Leukaemia and my share of this is £40,000. I have contributed the first £10,000 to get the ball rolling and to cover all of my participation costs. This ensures that each and every penny of the money I raise goes directly to fund Cure Leukaemia's research nurses at 15 hospitals across the UK. These roles form the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) network giving patients access to potentially life-saving treatments through clinical trials, with plans to fund a paediatric network on the way.

Cancer touches everyone's lives and with one person diagnosed with blood cancer every 14 minutes, your generosity means we can help transform the prospects and lives of thousands of blood cancer patients. Together we can offer hope in saving more lives and eradicating leukaemia.

I would be immensely grateful for any donation, no matter how big or small, as the old adage goes; "every penny counts".

So in the immortal words of Bob Geldof

I know that times are hard and so if you aren't able to make a donation, thank you for reading this far but please help spread the word about what the team and I are doing; the more people we can reach, the more we can raise.

I'll post updates of training progress, pain and suffering endured and the Tour itself on my social media:

- Insta: does.it.hurt.yet (https://bit.ly/Doesithurtyet)

- Strava: https://bit.ly/JKStrava

In the meantime - check out NBC's documentary on the 2024 Tour 21 team

Episode 1: https://youtu.be/onJb9E6IhgA?si=9B6_L-gKExz5cmXQ

Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekRklfYOf-s

Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPODu32EJkc

Note: Corporate donations also accepted and corporate sponsorship can also be arranged (team clothing, team bus, event etc).