Alpe d'Huez + the Marmotte with Anne Jones aged 84.

This May to celebrate turning 60. I am joining Anne 'the flying granny' Jones - now aged 84 - as she completes the last of the three iconic Tour de France climbs - the most famous of them all the mighty Alpe d'Huez.

Alpe d'Huez is 1,850m high, there are 21 hairpin bends that go on for 14 km. There is nothing easy about it - especially at 84.

It's been my privilege to accompany Anne as she cycled up Mont Ventoux, (1,900 metres) in May 2024 and the mighty Tourmalet (2,115 metres) in June 25.

As Anne pushed herself to the limits - horrified by the fate of children in Gaza - she raised £50,000 for our (Amos Trust's) partners in Gaza.

So this May not only will I join her, but the next day we are taking on the Marmotte - 5,000m of climbing, 4 Cols and 170 km.

There is a chance the top of one of the Cols (Galibier) will be closed - so we have a back up plan which is only 165km and 4,462m of climbing.

It's by far the hardest cycle challenge I have ever done, but if Anne can do Alpe d'Huez at 84, it's worth me doing all I can do to build hope for children in Gaza.

So please sponsor me as I look to raise £2,100 - £100 for each of Alpe d'Huez hairpins.

Building hope in Gaza

1 million children in Gaza are acutely traumatised. They have lost friends and family members, seen their homes destroyed, been displaced multiple times, survived in tents for 2 years with no sanitation, no running water and massive food shortages.

93 % of schools have been destroyed or badly damaged and Gaza is littered with unexploded ordinance.

Our partners provide specialised trauma therapy for children and families, run tent schools for children who have not been in school for 3 years and raise awareness of how to spot unexploded bombs and where not to play.

The commitment of these local partners, all of whom have lost their own homes and family members is beyond words.

So please give what you can

I am also really excited that we will be joined by Alaa al Dali and Mohammed Asfour, from the Gaza Sunbirds, paracyling team. I first rode with Alaa in Gaza 5 years ago and last time at the world championships in Zurich - he rode, I was in the team car - and it will be great to be joined by them.

You can find out more here: https://www.amostrust.org/palestine-justice/