The Tour 21, the endurance challenge which sees a group of amateur riders tackle the entire route of the Tour de France one week ahead of the pros, has today announced a new partnership with Ribble which will see the official event Ride Captains have access to Ribble bikes for the event this summer.
Ribble will also be continuing their support of Geoff Thomas MBE during the ride with a customised bike who returns to complete his sixth Tour de France. Former England footballer and a blood cancer survivor himself, Thomas heads up the team of 18 amateur riders taking on the route which starts in Denmark this June.
“Myself and the team at Ribble are incredibly proud to be a partner of The Tour 21 and to support Geoff and his phenomenal awareness and fundraising mission,” explained Ribble CEO, Andy Smallwood.
“As cyclists ourselves, we fully appreciate the epic challenge Geoff is undertaking and he is an inspiration to us all – especially as he has now completed an incredible tally of Grand Tours that would look amazing on any Pro riders CV. We wish him and the entire team taking part in The Tour 21 all the very best and look forward to seeing some of the incredible adventures across the challenge.”
The event rolls out on 24th June from Copenhagen before arriving in Paris 23 days and 3,328km later. Now in its second year, The Tour 21 aims to raise well over £1m in funding with over £440,000 already raised by the team. All money raised is invested in the national Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) which has been solely funded by Cure Leukaemia since January 2020.
Head of Sponsorship at Cure Leukaemia, Alex Smith said: “We’re excited to have Ribble onboard for this year and hopefully beyond too, supporting the riders in what will likely be the biggest endurance undertaking of their lives. The partnership further reinforces the continued growth of The Tour 21 and having the support of Ribble and their wider family of athletes and supporters will really help us to spread the word further and wider as we strive to keep pushing the bar on what we can continue to fundraise.”
The Tour 21 recently announced a renewed collaboration with NBC Sports to publish a five episode series during the ride itself on the NBC Sports YouTube channel. The series will showcase the highs and lows of this tough endurance challenge that will see the amateur cyclists push themselves to their limits over some of the toughest terrains.
For more information about the 2022 event, including the profiles of the team riding, visit https://www.thetour21.co.uk/. You can donate to The Tour 21’s fundraising efforts here and applications are open for people interested in participating in this bucket list event in 2023, contact joe@cureleukaemia.co.uk to register your interest.
