X Factor winner Sam Bailey and sports stars Jonathan Edwards, Darren Gough and Sally Gunnell are among the famous faces in the field of more than 25,000 riders taking on the challenge of the 2015 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on Sunday 2 August.
The 2013 X Factor winner was guided to success by mentor Sharon Osborne and has gone on to record a number one UK album and a sold-out headline tour. Bailey will make her debut riding as part of Team Telegraph, who are raising money for the Charity of the Year, Scope.
Joining Bailey in Team Telegraph will be Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards who won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the triple jump. Since his retirement from athletics, Edwards has become a keen cyclist and will make his Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debut this year. Completing the Team Telegraph line up are TV presenter Jenni Falconer, BBC presenter John Inverdale and Welsh rugby legend Shane Williams.
1992 Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell will captain the Daily Telegraph’s Team 50. The former 400m hurdler is the only female British athlete to hold the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles simultaneously. This will be the second time Gunnell has ridden the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 after she completed the inaugural event in 2013.
Retired England cricketers Darren Gough and Allan Lamb are both riding the sportive for the first time in support of the charity Help for Heroes, while rugby union is well represented in Rugby World Cup year with three members of the 2003 World Cup winning team: Matt Dawson, Martin Johnson and Simon Shaw. Dawson will be riding for the third time in support of the charity Beating Bowel Cancer and Shaw makes his debut riding in support of the charity Action for A-T.
Alongside the stars of sports and entertainment will be tens of thousands of fundraisers, many riding for very personal reasons. JJ Chalmers will be riding for the charity Get Kids Going! on a recumbent trike, as part of a trial of recumbent cycles for invited riders. JJ was injured by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in Afghanistan in 2011 while serving with the Royal Marines, suffering injuries to his arms, legs and face. JJ’s long road to recovery culminated in his participation in the 2014 inaugural Invictus Games, winning bronze in the 4x100m mixed relay. A keen sportsman before his injuries, JJ has continued to use sport as a vital part of his rehabilitation and is determined to inspire others, particularly children with disabilities, to lead an active life and not let physical disabilities hamper their opportunities.
Alan Warner will be riding to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH) who have helped support his family since his daughter Zoe was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour was four centimetres in diameter when first discovered in October 2010 and Zoe endured several operations to remove it over the next four years. Since March 2014 all MRI scans have been clear and Zoe is now able to enjoy a healthy and happy life. She is also a keen cyclist and won a bronze in the National Youth Circuit Championships in 2014, inspiring her dad to get out on his bike for charity.
Retired NHS nurse Lisa Rodrigues will be riding for the first time raising money for the charity Samaritans. Lisa spent more than 40 years working for the NHS, and for the last 13 years of her career was Chief Executive of the Mental Health Trust. She has experienced depression herself since her teenage years and chose to share her experiences to help others throughout her career and as a volunteer for Samaritans. Cycling has been a fundamental part of Lisa’s ability to cope with mental health issues and she is a strong advocate of cycling’s power to strengthen and focus the mind.
Peterborough-based Craig Green also makes his debut, riding for the charity Scope. A manager of his local YMCA, Craig suffers from Poland syndrome – a rare condition which causes the underdevelopment, or absence, of the chest muscles on one side of the body. Craig is missing fingers on his right hand and his right pectoral muscles. After troubled teenage years, Craig drifted into bad habits and was arrested in 2010 for drug offences, for which he served two years in prison. Since then, Craig has been determined to turn his life around and cycling has featured heavily in his transformation. He is now hoping to make it onto Team GB at the 2016 Rio Paralympics after being talent spotted by British Cycling in 2013.
Husband and wife Simon and Catriona Mantle will be riding for the first time to raise money for Tommy’s, the baby charity, after their twin daughters Bonnie and Maggie were born at just 27 weeks in 2013. The two girls weighed just 2.5lbs each when they were born prematurely and spent nine weeks in hospital being cared for by expert doctors and nurses. Tommy’s provided the family with guidance and support in the weeks that followed and now that Bonnie and Maggie have recently turned two, mum and dad have decided the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 was the perfect event to raise funds and awareness for the charity that supported them when they were most in need.