Subscribe to L2P News London, UK. 24 May 2010
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has sent a good luck message to Nigel Mansell and his UK Youth team who are riding The London-Paris 2010.
HRH The Princess Royal
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, who is patron of UK Youth, said: “I wish Nigel and the UK Youth team a safe and swift ride to Paris. They have an enormous challenge ahead of them in July when they embark on the Nigel Mansell UK Youth Cycle Challenge and I hope The London-Paris 2010 will be a good training ground.”
UK Youth President Nigel Mansell OBE
Mansell, Britain’s most successful F1 driver with 31 wins, will line up with Team UK Youth when The London-Paris 2010 begins on June 24th.
UK Youth (www.ukyouth.org) is celebrating its centenary in 2010 with the theme “Positive About Youth”. Mansell is riding The L2P to prepare for the Nigel Mansell Cycle for Youth, a fund-raising 1,200 mile, 13-day cycle tour around the UK which begins on July 22nd. Mansell recently spoke to HRH The Princess Royal about his plans at a UK Youth reception at St James Palace.
Mansell, who is president of UK Youth, said: “It’s our centenary this year so we wanted to do something challenging and inspiring and that’s where cycling came in. In July, we’re cycling 1200 miles across Britain and The L2P is the ideal preparation for our team.”
Mansell’s team will include his sons Leo, 25, and Greg, 22, who are partnering him in the Le Mans racing series this year. He will also be joined by Ian Williams, who co-owns the Big Maggy’s Coffee and Cycle Shop in St Helier, Jersey, with Magnus Backstedt, the 2004 Paris Roubaix winner who is also in the L2P 2010 line-up. Mansell’s team is completed by Ian’s wife, Susan, marketing manager for Santander bank in Jersey.
In The London-Paris 2010, Mansell will be riding alongside Olympic and former world cycling champion Rebecca Romero, Tour de France winner Stephen Roche, former England rugby captain Will Carling, All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke and ex- England footballer Geoff Thomas.
The London-Paris 2010, staged by HotChillee, the global publishing, marketing and events company, is the UK’s premier cyclosportive. It is recognised as the closest the amateur rider can get to the Tour de France experience. The ride covers 550km in three days with a rest day in Paris. The Daily Telegraph recently ranked The L2P as one of the world’s top 25 events, alongside the London and New York marathons. The event has also been named in the top ten of adventure events for women.