Michelin-starred chef, Phil Howard, is completing the 3,500km Tour de France route in a bid to raise £1 million for Cure Leukaemia.
Howard, chef patron of Elystan Street and co-founder of NOTTO Pasta Bars, is part of a team of 17 amateur riders who are completing the route in the fundraising effort.
The cycle began in Tuscany on Saturday 22 June and is broken into 21 stages that emulate the real event. The team are set to finish in Nice on Sunday 14 July, a week before the professionals complete the same journey.
The chef took to Instagram to share the news with his followers and has put a link to the JustGiving page in his bio.
On the JustGiving page, where Howard posts daily updates, he wrote: ‘Well, the time has come! I head off to Florence tomorrow ahead of my bike to prepare for our departure on Saturday. The training is done and I am in the finest shape this 58 year old body is going to be in! It's time to get stuck into this adventure and I am sure it will be just that.’
He added: ‘I am riding with the thought of my wonderful father in law, Bob Collier, who in years to come might have survived his illness given the brilliance of @cureleukaemia work. Please support…..big love.’
Howard has already raised over £44,000, surpassing his goal of £30,000. He says: ‘Between the 17 of us we hope to raise £1 million. It goes without saying this depends on the huge generosity of anyone who finds themselves on this page. I thank you all in advance.’
In other cycling news, Gordon Ramsay says he's ‘lucky to be here’ after a ‘really bad’ bike crash.