Meet the man aiming to ride the Tour de France route in just 10 days

Jack Thompson will start in Brest on July 5 and aim to beat the professional peloton to Paris

Jack Thompson riding for Wahoo
(Image credit: Tristan Cardew / https://www.instagram.com/tristantakephoto/)

Like most cycling fans the world over, Jack Thompson had the same dream. “I would love to ride down the Champs-Élysées as the leader of the Tour de France, but my direction never took me that way,” he says. “I want to give hope that you don’t have to follow the conventional path and you can do things differently and succeed, even in the face of adversity.”

Fighting against a tide of hardship and doubt is part of Thompson’s story. Struck by depression and “super-scared to talk with anyone” aged just 12, the Australian later suffered drug abuse and addiction after he finished university and was admitted to rehabilitation. Between and after both significant chapters in his life, there was only one thing that kept him in a positive mindset: his bike.

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Chris Marshall-Bell

A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and long reads across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013. In 2024 he released a seven-part podcast documentary, Ghost in the Machine, about motor doping in cycling.

Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains. He lives in Valencia, Spain.