Ciclonline.com

Nigel Mansell to Ride London-Paris 2010

London-Paris continues to make the news. Motor racing legend and former Formula 1 world champion, Nigel Mansell, is to ride The London-Paris 2010 to help raise money for Britains young people.

Mansell, Britains most successful F1 driver with 31 wins, will line up with Team UK Youth when the ride begins on June 24th. UK Youth (www.ukyouth.org), whose patron is HRH The Princess Royal, is celebrating its centenary in 2010 and Mansell is riding The L2P to prepare for the Nigel Mansell Cycle for Youth, a fund-raising UK cycle tour which begins on July 22nd.

Mansell, who is president of UK Youth, said: Its our centenary this year so we wanted to do something challenging and inspiring and thats where cycling came in. In July, were cycling 1200 miles across Britain and The L2P is the ideal preparation for our team."

Ive heard about The L2Ps legendary atmosphere and we thought wed get some real inspiration from some of the great cyclists taking part. Im really looking forward to getting on The L2P starting grid and I know that arriving in Paris with the peloton will be an amazing experience.

Mansells 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 Maggys 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. Mansells team is completed by Ians wife, Susan, marketing manager for Santander bank in Jersey.

Sven Thiele, director of The L2P, said: Its absolutely terrific that Nigel and his team are joining us. We are proud that he has chosen our event as a warm up for his 1200 mile ride across Britain. I know that our riders will be very excited about riding with Nigel, who is one of Britains great sporting legends.

In The London-Paris 2010, Mansell will be riding alongside Olympic and former world cycling champion, Rebecca Romero, who is riding The L2P 2010 as part of her switch from track to road cycling. The ride is part of her preparation for the World Time Trial Championship, in Melbourne this September.

Also in the line up is Tour and Giro winner and former world champion, Stephen Roche, former England rugby captain, Will Carling, All Blacks legend, Zinzan Brooke and former England footballer, Geoff Thomas.

This years L2P sponsorship partners are Adidas, Science in Sport, Specialized, Cyclevox, Sigma Sport, Mavic, Sportique and Pearson Cycles.