Kenilworth Pirates rugby player Mark Nicholas will be joining stars of sport and screen including Les Ferdinand, Gavin Hastings and Ben Shephard for a charity bike ride next month.
The Dallaglio Cycle Slam - the brainchild of former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio - will take in all the 6 Nations stadia, starting in Rome and finishing in Edinburgh on March 13, a distance of 2,800km.
The target is to raise £1m over t
he course of the 24 days with the proceeds being split equally between BBC Sport Relief and the recently established Dallaglio Foundation, which supports Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes, the RPA Benevolent Fund, Leukaemia Research and DebRA.
Nicholas, 39, will join Dallaglio on the fourth stage from Twickenham to his family home of Fishguard, a journey of 439km.
"Dallaglio is a major motivator of mine and my son's lives," said Nicholas, who plays centre for the Pirates.
"I want to raise money for his worthwhile charities and give something back to the community."
Each participant needs to contribute £3,000 and Nicholas has already exceeded that total thanks in part to stints on a static bike in Waitrose in Kenilworth and Sainsbury's in Leamington.
Last weekend, saw Nicholas cover 160 miles over the two days, while raising £1,050. Sainsbury's CEO Justin King also dropped in to lend his support.
Nicholas, who admitted to feeling sore "especially in the thighs and
the nether regions" following his marathon spell in the saddle, is still looking for additional donations from individuals and businesses, with the target now to raise over £5,000.
Donations can be made through www.justgiving.com/mark-nicholas
The Lawrence Dallaglio Cycle Slam (www.dallagliocycleslam.com) starts in Rome on Friday February 12 with Nicholas' stage running from February 28 to March 4.
