Seven colleagues at the Financial Times have begun a gruelling task of collectively cycling 36 stages of the Tour de France, one of the toughest sporting challenges in the world. Their aim is to raise £1,500 for The William Wates Memorial Trust, the charity supporting disadvantaged young people through education and sport.

With 15,000 training miles already clocked, the Team FT members – Joe Russ, Graham Tuckwell, Ben Turner, Pierce Cook-Anderson, Tom Christopher, Pete Dodds and Mark Alderson – will tackle a total of more than 5500 km from Tomblaine, north-east France, through Burgundy, the Jura and into Switzerland and the high Alps.
Pierce Cook-Anderson, Commercial Manager for Investors Chronicle, tells us: “Over the five days we will be climbing around 30,000 vertical feet through snow-capped peaks and riding an average of 170km each day. It’s going to be the toughest challenge any of us has taken part in”.

The WWMT’s mission is to help disadvantaged young people stay away from a life of crime, using the mediums of sports, arts and education. Since 1998 the Trust has donated just over £1M and helped over 8,000 disadvantaged young people fulfil their potential. To donate to Team FT and find out more about WWMT please click the following link: http://www.bmycharity.com/teamft

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