MORE than £70,000 is set to be raised thanks to a group of intrepid cyclists who took on a 265-mile journey.

After four gruelling days, a group of cyclists riding from Basingstoke to Paris to raise money for the Ark Cancer Centre Charity and Kingsclere-based Bike 4 Cancer arrived in the French capital on Saturday, July 15.

Setting off from the Ark Conference Centre on Wednesday morning, the Ark to Arc riders stopped off at Basingstoke’s twin town Alençon before going on to the Arc de Triomphe and finally the Eiffel Tower.

The journey was an emotional rollercoaster, and no more so than on the final afternoon after cyclist Simon Finch came off his bike just 20 miles from the finish and suffered a broken collarbone.

Mark Jones, director of fundraising and communications at Ark Cancer Centre Charity, said: “The Ark to Arc cyclists have really risen to the challenge, and when the going got tough, they just kept on going.

“The end of the Ark to Arc journey was an emotional one, particularly because everyone was so concerned about Simon.

"There was a massive sense of relief, and joy, when he arrived at the celebration meal on Saturday evening.”

The Ark Cancer Centre Charity is raising £5million to build a unique local cancer treatment centre in the Basingstoke area, while Bike 4 Cancer is a cancer respite charity with a sporting focus which also funds research.

While the Ark to Arc cyclists were clocking up the miles to Paris, the team at gold headline sponsor Merit Group piled on the pedal power on a static bike at their Basingstoke office as they covered the same distance as the Ark to Arc riders and collected additional sponsorship.

There’s still time to sponsor the individual Ark to Arc riders by going to arkriders.co.uk, where you can see the rider profile pages.