Former Army Officer set to Tackle Tour de France Route in 2023
Former Army Office Kelly Rhodes, 36, is getting on her bike to take on one of the most gruelling physical challenges to help raise funds for national blood cancer charity, Cure Leukaemia.
The Tour 21, which will take place from Friday, June 23 – Sunday, July 16, 2023, will see a team of 25 amateur cyclists taking on all 21 stages of the Tour de France with the aim of raising £1,000,000 for the charity.
Starting in Bilbao, the most populous city in the Basque Country, the team will follow the same route and ride over 3,500km in just 21 days.
Kelly Rhodes is a former British Army Officer having previously spent over eight years in a variety of leadership roles before leaving the Army and turning her attentions to the corporate HR world.
Money raised will be invested in the national Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) which has been solely funded by Cure Leukaemia – the UK Charity partner of the Tour de France since January 2020.
TAP is a network of specialist research nurses at 12 blood cancer centres located in the UK’s biggest cities (including the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow) and a hub based at the Centre for Clinical Haematology in Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
This network enables accelerated setup and delivery of potentially life-saving blood cancer clinical trials to run, giving patients from a UK catchment area of over 20 million people access to treatments not currently available through standard care.
Kelly is already a keen cyclist and is hoping that her military background will put her in good stead to conquer the challenge. She said: “During my time in the Army, I did a lot of military training and sports and exercises where I was under a lot of physical and mental pressure and it was tricky situations to be in at those times. It gave me a set of values that I still try and live by today and it was a really important part of my life.
“(Since leaving the Army) I am in a corporate job working in the city and I feel like my life is very different now and, to a certain degree, I have lost a bit of a sense of purpose in my life and what is important in my life and how I want to contribute to society and the world.
“For some time, I have been seeking some sort of challenge where I can regain a sense of perspective and do something really tough that puts me back in my old space where I have to work really hard and do things for other people. The Tour 21 is the perfect opportunity for me as I don’t think I can find a much tougher challenge!
“Being on my bike for 21 days in a row is a dream come true. Most people don’t get to do that, but to also do it with a group of people who are just as passionate about cycling and about supporting Cure Leukaemia and helping each other through the great days and the bad days – and obviously coming together at the end of it having raised a huge amount of money for Cure Leukaemia.”
