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Martin Colston

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Help me reach my goal of £1,500

Le Loop Mountains Week - supporting the William Wates Memorial Trust

Le Loop follows the official route of the 2024 Tour de France, one week ahead of the professionals and finishes 21 stages later in Nice (due to the Olympics in Paris).

On Friday 21st June 2024 around 100 riders will gather in Florence for the 'Grand Depart'. Some cycle a few days, some ride further. More will join us over the following 3 weeks of the tour.

I will be riding the 'Mountains Week - stages 14 to 19 of the Tour de France route - starting in Pau in the Pyrenees on 6th July and finishing in Isola 2000 in the Alps on 12th July.

In total, these 6 stages cover 1,039 km / 649 miles with over 19,000m / 62,000ft of ascent. And include the Queen Stage which is stage 15: Loudenville to Plateau de Beille which is 198 km / 124 miles with 4,850m / 15,910 ft of ascent..! Thankfully there's a rest day the day after :)

Every participant commits to raising a minimum amount for the William Wates Memorial Trust (WWMT). The fundraised money is entirely separate from the participation fee - donations do not pay for my Tour. 

All monies raised go directly to the William Wates Memorial Trust whose mission is to help the most disadvantaged young people keep away from a life of crime and violence and fulfil their potential. This is achieved by giving grants to charities that engage young people through the medium of sports, arts and education.

It's been a tough couple of years for charities and particularly for young people. This is my chance to give something back and help support young people who aren't lucky enough to enjoy the advantages in life that most of us take for granted.

Le Loop is no small undertaking!!! Riding even ONE stage of the Tour de France route is going to hurt! Please reward my pain by giving generously.

Merci beaucoup!

Please Help Me
Reach My Goal

Raised

£1,506 + £274.70 GiftAid

My Goal

£1,500

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My Achievements

My Updates

Mission accomplished

Saturday 20th Jul
What an amazing experience Mountains Week was, and it made watching the Tour a week later soooo much more engrossing!

Highlights: cloud clearing for the Tourmalet ascent, view from Plateau de Beille, washing machine effect at the back of a 40 person peleton, lakes and ice cream on stage 18 and Cime de la Bonnette. Plus, of course, the amazing feed stops, the top Le Loop organisation and hearing from the charities we're supporting

Fab-u-lous 

King Alfred's Way - half off-road - completed

Friday 24th May
A 4-day Newbury Velo club tour riding the King Alfred's Way last weekend. 220 miles, 50% off-road, plenty of mud, ruts, awesome views, cracking descents and very challenging sections. Gravel bike was a dream, 4 days back-to-back was good training. Company was great. Highly recommended

Flandrien Challenge Completed

Friday 24th May
Together with two club mates Tom and Rog I set out to complete the Flandrien Challenge at the beginning of May. To ride all 59 of the famous Flanders bergs, many of them cobbled, within 72 hours. we chose the 3 day route and completed 415kms, 5,500m ascent and a total of 28km of vicious cobbles! It was pretty epic and our names are now on the Wall of Fame in the Ronde van Vlaanderen museum in Oudenaarde :)

White Horse Challenge - 21st April

Tuesday 23rd Apr
Rode the 90 mile White Horse Challenge sportive with two mates and made it a little harder by riding solo to the start from home which added 25 miles :)

Solid ride and hard to work hard trying to keep up with Tom who went on to win the King of the Mountains on Dragon Hill - chapeau to him!

Lovely day with the sun out, albeit a tad chilly. 

Next up is the Flandrien Challenge on 3rd to 5th May - all 59 cobbled bergs in Flanders within 72 hours. Planned route totals just over 400km. Watch this space!

3 months to go

Thursday 11th Apr
With only 3 months to go before I hit the Pyrenees for the first of my 6 stages of the Tour I thought it was time for an update.

Training has been going well. Since the start of the year I've ridden 3,150km and spent 112 hours in the saddle. And I've increased by functional threshold power by almost 8%. I've ridden 100 miles (160km) once, and done over 100km 9 times, one of which was with my wife Catie and was her longest ever ride :))

At the end of this month I'm heading over to Flanders with a couple of mates to try and complete the Flandrien Challenge: ride all 59 cobbled climbs in Flanders within 72 hours. We have our route planned out and it totals 407km over 3 days. I've never ridden the cobbles, and judging by the fact the most of the male pros ended up walking up the Koppenberg in de Ronde a couple of weeks ago, it's going to be challenging :)

Le Loop mountains week is keeping me highly motivated to train and I can't wait to get back into the mountains :)

I'm also delighted to be raising money for the William Wates Memorial Trust and would be really grateful if you would sponsor me. Many thanks

Thank you to my Sponsors

£150

Colin Colston

Of the many cycling challenges you have set yourself this must be the craziest. But, being you, I am confident that you will achieve success. IADOM

£108

Colin Colston

Another fantastic challenge for another special charity. Good luck with the training. I know you will make it.

£100

Nicola Raper

What a challenge Martin I look forward to reading the training updates. A well deserving charity.

£100

Rob Bassil

Good luck, you madman!

£54

Sarah

You never make it easy for yourself but you’ll smash it and for a great cause. Go Martin!

£54

Louise Ashton-barnes

No Pain No Gain - Legend !

£50

Alaistair Bushby

Share the details Eric. Highs and lows please. Need the vicarious experience. Good luck.

£50

H-j

I hope it doesn’t hurt too much. I know that you have put in so much planning and preparation so now it’s just pushing those pedals one revolution at a time! Bonne chance! Enjoy the views

£50

Martin Colston

£27

Alex Colston

£27

Paul Fowler

Good Luck you mad fool!!!!!!

£27

David West

Well done on finishing "Le Loop" Chapeau 🎩⛰️🚴‍♀️

£27

Dawn Sellick

You are amazing, Martin, and I'm sure you're going to succeed.

£27

Kevin Hurley

Good luck Martin.

£27

Heather Codling

£27

James A

Martin, you may be Le Loopy doing this for actual fun but the charities will appreciate it. Send pictures! Not just the smiling ones, we want to see some pain!

£27

Helen & Chris Dace

Good luck Martin!

£27

Nick Hobdell

Chapeau

£27

Stuart Grant

Epic challenge and great cause - good luck and enjoy the experience.

£27

Angie And Roger Tapper

You truly are a star Martin !

£27

Tatiana Vashchylko

£27

Michiel Berkhout

Fantastic effort, Martin, well done

£25

Jane And Gordon Souter

You're totally mad, but good luck!

£25

Anna Whittaker

Good luck Martin!

£25

Vicky Schollar

Good luck Martin you’ll be great!

£25

Dominic Colston

Allez, allez! Don’t forget to enjoy yourself!

£25

Ian & Alison

Bonne chance!

£25

Ali Watson

Hats (or cycle helmets) off to you!

£21.60

Hannah Baron

Best of luck Martin! From Hannah, Richard, Eva and Amber x

£21.60

Lucy Colston

Good luck pal

£21.60

Anna Colston

Good luck!!

£21.60

Jan

Good luck Martin

£20

Rose & Gerry

Good Luck Martin, totally awesome

£20

Rog

Enjoy it, a bit jealous

£20

A Sympathetic Soul

Full refund please if you do not complete.

£20

Keri Howells

Bonne chance!! I think you're absolutely mad but 'm sure you'll complete it !!

£16.20

Pauline

Good luck!

£15

Benjamin Schiffer-harte

Best of luck with this. I’d happily run this but perhaps not cycle.

£15

Andy Jones

Good luck, Martin

£15

Fraser Scott

£10.80

Viki

Great effort!

£10.80

Lisa Boorman

Good luck you crazy man! Seriously though, what an amazing thing to do for such a worthy cause. Kudos x

£10

The Breslins

£10

Brenda Roullier

£10

Fiona Dickens

Good luck Martin!

£10

Elizabeth May

Hope you'll manage to enjoy it all!