A blood cancer charity is the first to be named as official charity partner of the Tour de France in the UK.
Birmingham-based Cure Leukaemia has announced that the Tour de France will be officially supporting The Tour 21 fundraiser, which is aiming to raise £1m for the charity next year.
The Tour 21 will see former professional footballer and Cure Leukaemia patron Geoff Thomas cycle all 21 stages of the Tour de France route one week ahead of the professional event, together with a team of 25 amateur cyclists.
The partnership runs until 2023 and means that The Tour 21 will be the only charity event of its kind with an official partnership with the Tour de France in the UK, the charity said.
Thomas, who is a blood cancer survivor, first completed the challenge in 2005, and then again in 2007, 2015 and 2017. He was meant to do it one last time this year, 15 years after the first, but both the official Tour de France and the fundraiser were postponed to 2021 because of coronavirus.
The charity said that it is hoping the partnership will help the group exceed its target, as well as raise awareness of its work.
Cure Leukaemia has also expanded the participating team to 25 members from the original 20, meaning that while all 2020 participants have agreed to defer to 2021, there are still five places available. Cyclist who take part commit to raise at least £30,000 for the charity.
Like many charities, Cure Leukaemia has had to cancel or postpone all its fundraising events this year, which left it with a £1.5m funding shortfall. The charity had an income of £2.2m in 2019.
‘Immensely proud’
Thomas said: “When I embarked on what seemed a completely crazy challenge in 2005, I could never have imagined that I would not only go on to ride the globally iconic Tour de France route five times nor that our event would secure such a prestigious level of recognition from within the world of cycling.
“Through this partnership, the Tour 21 event in 2021 and onwards will open up a range of exclusive opportunities for our team including staying in the same hotels which will be used by the professionals a week later.”
Yann Le Moënner, chief executive of Tour de France organiser A.S.O., said: “We are proud to announce Cure Leukaemia as the official charity partner of the Tour de France in the UK.
“The charity’s work not only benefits the whole of the UK but also has a clear aim to help hasten global progress towards finding effective treatments for all forms of blood cancer and we are excited to partner with them over the next three years.”
James McLaughlin, chief executive of Cure Leukaemia said: “In securing this partnership and association with the world’s biggest annual sporting event, we hope that it not only raises awareness of Cure Leukaemia at a global level but also provides us with the opportunity to secure increased fundraising potential from The Tour 21 and expand our range of cycling events and opportunities going forward.
“Led by Geoff, cycling has played such a key role in the growth of Cure Leukaemia since 2015 and we are immensely proud to now be officially associated with the world’s most famous and prestigious professional cycling event.”
