WITH thousands of miles of training in their legs, the Morning Star Heroes of Pain today set out on their epic ride from London to Paris to raise money for the paper.

Backed by two support vehicles and a logistics corps, the 10 riders will be cycling over 260 miles to deliver a special international edition to Europe’s largest festival of the left — the Fete de l’Humanite.

In the first of four stages, the riders depart at dawn from Morning Star HQ in east London and should arrive at the port of Newhaven on the south coast around 2pm for an overnight stay before a ferry crossing to Dieppe the following morning.  

Ride leader Les Doherty said: “The objective is to raise £10,000 for the paper and raise its profile within the trade union and working-class movement.”

Carolyn Jones, vice-chair of the Morning Star management committee, issued a last-minute appeal for support: “We are asking readers, unions and progressive organisations to sponsor the ride. Whether you can afford £100 or a fiver, every penny goes towards keeping our daily paper alive.”

THE opening stage of this year’s Cycle Challenge has been designed without any polite introductions and this leg-burning 101-mile suffer-fest is likely to split the peloton as soon as the riders reach the Surrey hills. 

From the Grand Depart in east London, the bunch will cross Peckham Rye where as a boy the poet William Blake said that he saw a vision of a cloud of angels in a great oak tree.

The first climb of the day will be Sydenham Hill, one of the highest points in London. Peaking at a 12 per cent gradient, the assent is testing but mercifully short.

After a fast descent there is 13 miles of steady climbing until the bunch — or more likely a breakaway — reaches the top of the Surrey hills at a height of 862ft. 

The route then descends into Westerham in Kent, whose previous residents include Winston Churchill and General James Wolfe, before the next climbing challenge of Hosey Hill. This will see the riders climbing 300ft in two miles through shaded woodland.

Riders will be able to catch their breath on the downhill route into Edenbridge. 

Quiet country roads with gentle gradients through rolling countryside will provide the perfect opportunity for the bunch to chase down the expected breakaway, with their rhythm only interrupted by a 2.5-mile climb to the village of Rotherfield at the 50-mile mark.

Five miles later comes the last big climb, but this time ascending 420ft towards the village of Heathfield in East Sussex.

From there it onto the traffic-free Cuckoo Trail, followed by downhill or flat roads to the final destination of the today’s opening stage, Newhaven.

The King of the Mountains (KOM) points at stake for the PCS Polkadot jersey come at Hosey Hill and the climb to Heathfield. 

Regi Thomas will be looking to hold off strong challenges from both Dan Smith and Matthew Tollitt. 

Stage 1 is not a day for the faint-hearted, with the heavier sprinters expected to sit on the wheels of their domestiques as they are paced up the hills. 

If the bunch comes together in the last few miles, Calvin Tucker will likely attempt to break clear in the last 200 yards to claim the stage victory and the overall race lead.

There are three ways to sponsor the ride:

• To pay by card, phone the Morning Star on (020) 8510-0815 (lines are open between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday)
• Go to www.morningstaronline.co.uk/support to make a one-off donation and sponsor a rider
• Send us a cheque, payable to Merseyside Morning Star Supporters Group and send to Pedalling4Progress, 10 Hadassah Grove, Liverpool L17 8XH