Cycling Festival: 70,000 Gear Up For Mass Event

Tens of thousands of riders are taking to the streets of London and Surrey this weekend for the UK's biggest cycling festival.

More than 70,000 cyclists are due to take part in the inaugural Prudential RideLondon festival, which includes four events designed to appeal to riders of all ages and abilities, from plodders to champions.

The highlight is set to be a 100-mile race from London through Surrey on Sunday, with London mayor Boris Johnson taking part in the challenge.

He said he had done a "couple" of 55-mile rides as part of his training programme codenamed "chiselled whippet".

He hopes to complete the route in 12 hours even though the cut-off time for finishers is supposed to be nine hours.

"My team has told me I will never make it. They think I am too clapped out to cycle 100 miles but the more they discourage me, the more determined I am to have a crack," he added.

British Olympic cycling champions Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell will be riding in Saturday's Grand Prix in London's St James's Park.

Ms Trott told Sky News: "I feel like we're actually turning into a cycling nation now, just like Belgium and Holland are. It's grown and grown.

Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell will be riding in the Grand Prix

"It's been like a knock-on effect from what Chris Hoy did in Beijing, followed by what he did in London. And then two winners of the Tour de France in two consecutive years. It's just getting bigger and bigger."

Staff Sergeant Steve Arnold, 34, of King's Lynn, who had both his legs blown off in Afghanistan, will also be competing in the hope it will help his chances of being selected for Britain at the Paralympics.

He has only been handcycling seriously for a year after it was used as part of his recovery at Headley Court rehabilitation centre.

He added: "I loved representing my country as a member of the armed forces, and I'd love to represent my country in cycling as well. It is going to be a tough field - the hardest I have ever raced against with guys coming from all over the world.

"I can't imagine what it is going to be like racing on the streets of London with all those thousands of people cheering you on."

Saturday will also feature an eight-mile family ride on a traffic-free loop of closed roads in central London.

Up to 20,000 amateur cyclists are to line up for the 100-mile challenge, starting at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, and then through Surrey's hills before finishing in central London.

Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson, two-time Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell, former Olympic and World champion sprint hurdler Sally Gunnell and soap stars from Emmerdale are taking part.

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