A GRANDMOTHER from Bromsgrove is set to cycle the Tour de France route next year.
Jackie Fowler, aged 60, has been selected to be part of the ‘Cure Leukaemia TheTour21 team’ to ride all 21 stages of the 2022 route.
The retired NHS nurse is part of a 25 strong team including ex England footballer and leukaemia survivor Geoff Thomas MBE.
They will ride the route one week ahead of the professionals with the aim of raising £1,000,000 for Cure Leukaemia.
Jackie, who rides with local cycle club V-Sprint said: “This is an unbelievable challenge, 3300km in just three weeks is a massive step up from a Sunday social ride with my club mates.
“However, with the support of friends and family I will be training hard, and hopefully on the last day I will get to ride along the Champs de Elysee in Paris, just like Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas and other British riders will do one week later."
Jackie was inspired to apply after meeting Geoff Thomas last year.
She added: “When I heard about the work they do and how they help so many families, I thought about my own son Simon, who sadly passed away at the age of 3 from Aplastic Anaemia, a disease closely related to Leukaemia.
“So, as I ride up the mountains of the Alps and Pyrénées I be thinking of him, and the children who are still affected by blood disorders knowing I’ll be playing my part in the search for that cure.”
The challenge will begin on June 24 in Denmark before finishing in Paris on July 17.
Jackie is hoping to raise over £30,000 towards the £1,000,000 team target.
“My first donation was from my Grandson Finley, who is only seven,” said Jackie.
“At my birthday meal he came up to me and gave me £1 saying ‘This is for your ride Nanny’.
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“Hopefully I will inspire him to take on life's challenges no matter how hard they may seem”.
To donate to Jackie and Cure Leukaemia visit www.justgiving/fundraising/jackietdf
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