As the Tour de France peloton reaches the Alps this weekend, from a safe distance Geoff Thomas will feel the torture of every hairpin bend.
If his ageing knees had dealt him a kinder hand, the former England midfielder would have been with his intrepid band of amateur cyclists tackling the full route – all 2,081 miles of it – seven days ahead of the professionals. But a week into his sixth expedition to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia, blood cancer survivor Thomas was forced to retire hurt and return home.
Instead of raising a glass to his 19th 'anniversary' on July 4 – the date when he was told, in 2003, that he had three months to live – with his own mini-peloton, the Crystal Palace legend counted his blessings at home. In his absence, the Tour 21 still expect to raise another £1million for Cure Leukaemia, a fabulous effort. Driving the course on Le Tour is hard enough; to cycle it requires monumental stamina.
