Dallaglio to cycle across the Pyrenees

Last weekend’s Sunday Times reported that former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio plans to ride an eight-day cycling challenge through the Pyrenees.

The challenge, which kicks off on Friday, involves cycling 580 miles from Biarritz to Banyuls, a trek that averages 6,500ft of climbing each day including the Col Du Tourmalet, a steep 6,939ft mountain pass and one of the most feared features of the Tour de France.

He has been training a lot but as he says, “there’s not too many 6ft 4in, 18-stone blokes out there.” I’m an inch taller than him and around four stone lighter but I suspect his power to weight ratio is a little better than mine — by a significant margin (or three).