Tour Ride takes House back home

National Road Race Champion Kristian House of Rapha Condor, a former resident of Stoke-on-Trent, was one of 1,200 riders who yesterday tackled the first Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, which started in the city.

The event is the first of two rides designed to raise funds for charity, which is in the first year of its partnership with the Tour of Britain, and which aims “to urge people to ‘unite by cycling’ to help fight prostate cancer”.

Organisers hailed the event as a success, with more than £150,000 already raised to help the charity fund its work conducting research into prostate cancer, providing support and information to sufferers, and undertaking campaigning initiatives.

Starting from Stoke City FC’s Britannia Stadium, the 145-kilometre route, with a total climb of just over 2,000 metres, followed the exact course that the Tour of Britain peloton will ride during Stage 5 of this year’s race a week on Wednesday.

The event also included a less arduous 70-kilometre route that allowed riders to dodge some of the climbs that the pros will have to tackle next week, as well as a family ride of 20 kilometres, with organisers seeking to appeal to cyclists of all abilities.

House said “to ride the route of the Stoke-on-Trent leg of The Tour of Britain is really good practice for me and its’ great to do it with so many people. Last year the finish in Stoke, right in the city centre, was unreal. The crowds were so loud and enthusiastic. To race in a city where I used to live in front of people who have supported me is really special.”

The second ride in the series takes place in London a week on Saturday. The route takes riders past many of London’s most iconic landmarks and comprises two laps of the course that the final stage of the Tour of Britain will follow later that day in front of an anticipated crowd of at least 100,000 fans.

Further details of the London ride can be found at http://www.tourride.co.uk/rides/stage_8.asp.