Hayden Groves to take on Tour de France route once again for Cure Leukaemia

Former National Chef of the Year Hayden Groves is getting back in the saddle as he aims to bring his personal fundraising efforts for Cure Leukaemia to £250,000.

Groves, executive chef of contract caterer BaxterStorey, will be part of a peloton of 20 cyclists joining ex-England footballer Geoff Thomas to cycle the Tour de France route.

The fundraising team will cycle more than 3,400km, making the journey one day ahead of the professional competitors.

The entire team hopes to raise £1m through June and July 2020, but Groves has set a personal goal of contributing at least £85,000 to this total, which would bring his personal contribution to the charity to a quarter-of-a-million-pounds.

Groves said: "Last year I was proudly asked to be a patron [of Cure Leukaemia], I've been supporting the charity since 2015, when I rode my first tour, then two years later an unprecedented three grand tours in one season. Currently my personal fundraising is at £165,000 but I'm ambitiously setting myself the goal of trying to get to the figure of £250,000, a-quarter-of-a-million sounds like a nice round number!

"I haven't exactly let myself go since 2017, but at the same time not really spent much time on the bike over the last year, also my annual total is not much more than what we will be expected to ride in just three weeks and with a few more mountains thrown in for good measure, so there's a lot of work to be done on and off the bike!"

Professor Craddock, co-founder of Cure Leukaemia, added: "What this team of people are doing is extraordinary. Their efforts will transform the outcomes for patients; and change the models we are using internationally to treat blood cancer. Patients from an increased catchment area of over 20 million people will have access, as a result, to potentially life-saving treatments not currently available through standard care."

Every penny raised from the tour will go to Cure Leukaemia, to give your support visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Hayden-GT15