'Tour 21 ' cycling team halfway towards £1m fundraising target

A team of amateur cyclists who will ride all 21 stages of the 2021 Tour de France route to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia are past the halfway mark in their £1m target.

The Tour 21 team - led by ex-footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas - has surpassed the £500,000 mark with less than 100 days to go until the challenge.

The team of 25 cyclists will ride the Tour de France route a week ahead of the professionals and funds raised are to be invested in the national Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) which has been solely funded by Cure Leukaemia since January 2020.

Birmingham-based Cure Leukaemia, which is the first ever official Charity Partner of the Tour de France in the UK, recorded a £1.5m fundraising shortfall in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and The Tour 21 team.

Geoff Thomas (pictured) said: “We all know that this event will be gruelling and will test us to the limits both physically and mentally but the reason we are doing it is to raise over £1,000,000 for Cure Leukaemia to claw back the £1,500,000 fundraising shortfall the charity suffered.

“However, tough the challenge is for us it is nothing compared to what blood cancer patients have to go through and I know that from personal experience.

“I am delighted that, as a team, we have reached the halfway mark with our fundraising, but we must keep our foot down now to ensure we can set off from Brittany on 19 June knowing that we have exceeded £1,000,000 to sustain the TAP network and give hope to the 38,000 people diagnosed with blood cancer in the UK each year. ”

Cure Leukaemia chief executive James McLaughlin said: “It is fantastic to see The Tour 21 team reaching £500,000 raised this far out from the start of the event but after such a challenging year in 2020.

“With a range of sponsorships opportunities still available for this event including the jersey, team bus and comprehensive video content of the whole 21-stage event, it would be great if companies worldwide could support Geoff and the team surpass their fundraising target.

“With this being Geoff 's final major cycling challenge, we encourage everyone who has supported him over the years can do so once again to ensure he can hang up his cleats knowing this team has made a huge impact for blood cancer patients across the UK. ”