Mike Tindall says 770km Alpine charity bike ride ‘sucks’

Mike Tindall has revealed that the 770km bike ride he is doing for charity is ‘brutal’ – but that he and the team are ‘sticking with it’.

The 43-year-old, who’s married to the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall, is currently in France taking part in the gruelling Cure Parkinson’s Raid Alpine challenge.

Mike has been a patron of Cure Parkinson’s since 2018. His father Philip was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.

During the six-day cycling event for the charity, participants will cover 770km, climbing 18,000 metres.

And the royal certainly seemed to be finding it tough, saying in an Instagram story that the challenge ‘sucks’.

The father-of-three, who is one of 22 cyclists taking part, has been updating fans with his progress on social media, where he has described the ride as ‘brutal’ and ‘horrible’.

The former rugby player, one of 22 riders taking the challenge on, has shared the high points of the challenge as well as the tougher ones

Also taking part are his fellow 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Iain Balshaw, as well as Cure Parkinson’s CEO Will Cook among others.

In a video posted earlier today, he revealed that they will be riding to Val D’Isere, and will have to tackle a 45km hill.

‘It sucks,’ he said of the upcoming task.

Several hours later, the former England rugby player once again took to Instagram stories to give an update.

‘Hello everyone,’ he said. ‘It is now quarter past 12. We have been riding up a hill since half past seven. There is the beautiful Val D’Isere.’

He then joked that a ‘little part of [him] died when the gang rode through the town, but were unable to stop at Dick’s Tea Bar, a famous apres ski bar, to have something to eat.

Despite predicting that the ride would ‘suck’, Mike stopped en route to share the picturesque views with his Instagram followers

Despite the scale of the challenge, Mike (pictured with fellow riders)successfully tackled Col de L’iseran, the highest road in Europe

‘We’ve got 9.5km to go, but I thought I’d share a view at 2,300m. Let the good times roll!’ 

When the team reached the top an hour later, the royal shared another video, celebrating their success.  

‘So there you have it,’ he said. ‘Highest road in Europe, Col de L’Iseran, done, ticked off, Cure Parkinson’s, the lads, the bulls, God it was good,.’

He added that one member of the team had been unable to ride the whole way, saying ‘he p****** out.’ 

Mike is currently fundraising through a Just Giving page, where he has set a target of £15,000. 

One his page, he has written about why he is undertaking the challenge, which he describes as ‘mammoth’. 

‘Driven to cure, this agile charity funds cutting edge Parkinson’s research and unites the worlds leading experts under one cause,’ his fundraising page says.

‘Cure Parkinson’s can only continue to have this impact with the support from people like me and you. The last two years have been incredibly challenging for Cure Parkinson’s and they receive no government funding. 

‘But, with our help we can keep them on the course to Cure. By donating to my page, you will help to fund Cure Parkinson’s research with potential to slow, stop or reverse Parkinson’s. Thank you.’ 

Mike’s father Philip (pictured) was diagnosed with the disease in 2003. The former rugby has said that seeing what his dad has been through has made him interested in helping Cure Parkinson’s

Mike has undertaken a number of fundraising drives for Cure Parkinson’s, which he has been a patron of since 2018.

His father Philip was diagnosed with the disease in 2003, and Mike has previously spoken out about how that has influenced his fundraising.

He said: ‘My dad has had Parkinson’s for 20 years. You know, it’s been a tough road for him, especially in the last 10 years and it’s been great to put that funding into research. 

‘So everything that Cure Parkinson’s does is purely about research. Their sole goal is to not exist. 

‘To stop, reverse and cure Parkinson’s ultimately, it’s something that because of having to watch my dad go through it, that’s something I’m more interested in, the cure side of it than just living with it.’