Dame Sarah backing the top-class Etape Pennines (From The Northern Echo)

BEAUTIFUL BUT BRUTAL: Last year’s 78-mile Etape Pennines was a resounding success – this year’s event on Sunday, October 6 is expected to be bigger and better with an increased field of 3,000 taking part

via Dame Sarah backing the top-class Etape Pennines (From The Northern Echo).

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Etape Pennines Cycle | Marie Curie Cancer Care 2013

Cycle the ultimate closed road challenge

Marie Curie Cancer Care is the proud Charity Partner of the Etape Pennines, recently hailed as brutal and beautiful.

More challenging than Etape Caledonia, Etape Pennines will see you take on the 78 mile course amidst the picturesque backdrop of County Durham and experience the thrill of closed-road cycling with hundreds of fellow cyclists.

Watch highlights from the 2012 Etape Pennines

You’ll be helping us reach our goal of raising over £130,000 in 2013, which will help provide over 6,500 hours of Marie Curie Nursing across the UK.

How to register

We are calling on all cyclists taking part in the Etape Series to raise funds for Marie Curie by joining our Daffodil Team. If you take up one of the pledge places, committing to raise a minimum of £250 to help people with terminal illnesses, your £63 registration fee gets waived as a little thank you from the organisers.

Otherwise, it costs £63 (payable to the organisers) for a place and you can register via the Etape Pennines website.

We are proudly supported by Pro cycling Team NetApp-Endura and as a member of the Daffodil Team you’ll get great tips from the top. Their experts will be supporting you by giving exclusive advice and tips to our cyclists on training, keeping your nutrition levels high and how to prepare for the event itself. We will, of course, also be on hand to give you tips and support to help you with your fundraising.

If you already have your own place on the event and would like to join the Daffodil Team then simply call our friendly support team on 0845 052 4184 or email etapeseries@mariecurie.org.uk

via Etape Pennines Cycle | Marie Curie Cancer Care.

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World-famous sportsmen prepare for Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines

With less than a week to go until the inaugural Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines, excitement is building in Durham for the event which is being tipped as one of the toughest on the British sportive calendar.

The 2,500 riders will be in great sporting company as the Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines recently confirmed that, not only is three time Olympic medalist Rob Hayles riding the 78 mile route, but he’ll be joined by former England test cricketer Steve Harmison. After rising to fame playing for Durham County Cricket Club, Steve was selected for England and went on to win the Ashes back in 2005. Chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2005, he is widely regarded as one of the world’s all time best fast bowlers. In fact, Shane Warne named Harmison in his list of 50 greatest cricketers, stating: “on his day, he is one of the most awkward bowlers to face in the world”. Now playing for Yorkshire, Steve loves to ride his bike to maintain his fitness levels.

After taking on the gruelling 78 miles of the closed road race, riders will be welcomed at the finish by two local football legends; Steve Harper and Lee Cattermole. Steve Harper is Newcastle United’s long serving goalkeeper spending 19 years at the club. Steve enjoys cycling and can usually be seen riding in the quiet lanes of Northumberland as part of his pre- season training. Lee Cattermole who is the captain of Sunderland FC only last week went out on his bike in the local Durham trails to test himself on the gruelling hills around the region.

Local Marie Curie Nurse, Paula Grufferty from County Durham said: “Marie Curie Cancer Care provided over 37,500 hours of free nursing care to terminally ill people across County Durham and North Yorkshire last year, as well as providing vital care at the Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle.

“As a Marie Curie Nurse, I see first hand the incredible difference this care makes to those who are terminally ill, and their family. If you’re taking part then I’d urge you to raise funds to help the charity to continue to provide these services to people in the North East.”

James Robinson, MD of organisers IMG Challenger World (and a local Newcastle boy himself) is delighted that the first event is just around the corner: “We’ve been working closely with the council and it is a really great feeling to know that the region has got behind this first event which is already set to be one of the leading cycling events in the UK.”

The rolling 78 mile route and promise of breathtaking County Durham countryside has certainly caught the attention of the ever growing cycling community and press, with the UK’s leading cycling magazine ‘Cycling Plus’ recently publishing a preview saying the route is ‘deliciously dramatic’ and ‘marvelously memorable’. The event is set to fill the shoes of its big brother, the Etape Caledonia, which an independent survey found boosted the local area economy by over £1million as a result of the event in just its third year.

To find out more and register your interest in the 2013 event, visit the Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines website at www.etapepennines.co.uk.

World-famous sportsmen prepare for Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines.

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Rob Hayles Championing Etape Pennines – Official launch yesterday (From The Northern Echo)

AN Olympic medal-winning cyclist will lead a field of up to 3,000 when a mass bike ride comes to the North-East this autumn.

 

The Etape Pennines ride, said to be cycling’s equivalent of the Great North Run, will follow a 78-mile route around County Durham, beginning and ending at Ushaw College, west of Durham City.

 

The event, England’s first mass participation closed roads cycling event, will be held on Sunday, October 7, and is expected to raise thousands of pounds for Marie Curie Cancer Care, its official charity, and other good causes.

 

It was officially launched yesterday, as Rob Hayles, who won silver in the pursuit event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, covered parts of the route.

 

Mr Hayles, who now helps coach Tour de France star Mark Cavendish, said: “Marie Curie is a great charity and anything which encourages people to ride a bike and see the countryside is a great cause.

 

“If you’re going to get on a bike in this neck of the woods in October you’ve got to be pretty keen. It shows how cycling is becoming more and more popular.”

 

Etape Pennines is being launched following the success over five years of Etape Caledonia, based in Pitlochry, Scotland, which boosts the Perthshire economy by £2m every year. Places for this year’s Caledonian ride, on Sunday, May 13, sold out in nine days.

 

 

The Pennines ride has already attracted 2,000 cyclists, including 11 from overseas.

 

The route has been designed to show off County Durham’s best scenery. Cyclists will visit Esh, Cornsay, upper Weardale, upper Teesdale, Hamsterley Forest, Witton Park, Crook and Esh Winning. The total ascent is 5,407ft.

 

Cyclists will leave at a rate of 200 per minute from 6.45am.

 

Rolling road closures will be in place. Participation is open to people aged 18 to 80. Entry is £61 per person.

 

More details will be announced nearer the date. For more information, visit etapepennines.co.uk

Olympic medallist to lead field of 3,000 cyclists on Etape Pennines ride (From The Northern Echo).

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