Cycle Club set new route from semi-finals

By Mark Stevens
24/4/23

The progression of Exeter Chiefs into Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against La Rochelle has meant the club’s Cycle Club have been forced into a last-minute detour ahead of their annual fundraising ride.

Now into its seventh year, the cyclists had plotted a 500-mile course that took them from Exeter, via Britanny and the Normandy Beaches, before heading back across the English Channel and onto West London for the Gallagher Premiership game with London Irish on Saturday, May 6 (4pm).

Well, the new plan is still to finish at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford for the Irish clash, but the group – who will again be raising funds for the club’s official charity, the Exeter Chiefs Foundation – have plotted a new course to the capital, going via opponents La Rochelle en route.

The outline of the programme is as follows:

• Sunday 30^th - European Champions Cup Semi Final v La Rochelle
• Monday 1^st - Cycle Bordeaux to Rochefort – 95 miles
• Tuesday 2^nd - Rochefort to Cholet via La Rochelle – 100 miles
• Weds 3^rd - Cholet to Laval – 90 miles
• Thursday 4^{th --} Cycle from Laval to Caen via Pegasus Bridge – 110 miles.
• Crossing on overnight ferry from Caen to Portsmouth.
• Friday 5^th - Cycle Portsmouth to Brentford - 76 miles
• Saturday 6^th - Coronation and Match Day and return to Exeter

The total distance is covered in five stage days and will be the club’s second visit to Bordeaux following their initial tour there seven years ago. It now involves two games and the opportunity to see the Chiefs continue their excellent run in the Champions Cup, where they hope to book a place in next month’s final in Dublin.

The plan is to head up through France and then cross the channel from Caen to Portsmouth and cycle to West London for the Friday afternoon before the match on Saturday.

Previous rides, which have helped to raise over £120,00 for the Foundation, have seen the group travel to Bordeaux, Ulster, Montpellier, Castres, La Rochelle and Limerick last season.