By Tom Barton

7 Aug, 2002

Page 11

CHARITY cyclists will get that Tour de France feeling when they stop traffic in the Champs Elysee in Paris next month.

Riders, including HTV presenter Paul Mewies, will cycle 440km from Greenwich, in London, to the Arc de Triomphe.

They will form part of a 250-strong team raising money for the Royal British Legion and are due to ride down the most famous road in Paris flanked by a motorcade of French police.

Other local cyclists include Lorna Kelly, 28, from Tywyn, in Gwynedd, who is serving with the RAF, as well as local businessmen David Chadwick and Guy Bancroft.

Mr Chadwick, who is doing the ride for the second time, said: 'A few of us got together in the millennium and decided to do it to get fit, have a laugh, and raise some money for a good cause.

'We were met in villages by local dignitaries and fed wonderful food and wine. It's an amazing sight when you arrive at the Champs Elysee on a Sunday morning and realise that they've shut down the road just for you - it feels like the Tour de France.'

The team is being sponsored by adventure travel company Trail Alpine of Dyserth, whose managing director Richard Jones will also take part in the gruelling ride.

The Royal British Legion have run the Pedal to Paris for the past seven years, raising pounds 1.3m for ex-Service people and their families.