Tom Daley gets back in the saddle for 130-mile cycle in horrific weather conditions for the longest day of his Red Nose Day challenge yet

16th February 2022

  • Olympic champion Tom Daley is today tackling the longest stage of his Hell of a Homecoming challenge

  • As he cycles for over 15 hours, covering 130miles and climbing over 3000 feet, from Southampton to Bovey Castle in Dartmoor National Park

  • Tom has already cycled through strong winds, heavy fog and relentless rain making his journey to today’s finish line even more difficult

  • Tomorrow he faces an ultra-marathon to make it to Plymouth where he hopes the community will rally together to welcome him home

  • All the action is being filmed for a primetime documentary to air on BBC One and iPlayer, in March

  • Nose Day returns on Friday 18th March

  • To support Tom visit comicrelief.com/tomschallenge

Wednesday 16th March: Tom Daley has set off on the longest, and arguably the toughest, stretch of his Red Nose Day challenge today, as he cycles for over 15 hours, with a 3000-metre climb for 130 miles from Southampton all the way to Bovey Castle in Dartmoor National Park

At more than double the distance Tom cycled yesterday, after the dreaded open water swim, Tom got back on his bike at 6am feeling exhausted, but determined, and started pedalling from the Quays Swimming and Diving Complex Southampton, a venue where Tom’s early diving career was taken to new heights.

Before setting off this morning, Tom said: “I think today is the most tired and exhausted I’ve ever felt in my life. I’ve trained for four Olympics now and none of that comes close in comparison to how tired I feel. It’s just been relentless. I am so exhausted, and everything hurts. I now have the toughest day I’m ever going to have to deal with, sports wise, ahead of me. I’ve got at least 12-hours of cycling to get through, and yet the 63 miles I did yesterday absolutely zapped all of my energy. I have to do more than double that today."

Tom added: “The support has been absolutely amazing, with people coming out and waving, kids from schools with banners and all that kind of stuff. The people coming out to support me and thinking about how donations will help so many people, is what is getting me through the dark times."

Tom has already cycled through strong winds, heavy fog and relentless rain making the journey to today’s finish line even more difficult. With impending storms and the fatigue from the past two days of his Hell of a Homecoming challenge catching up on him, Tom’s hoping to see supporters out on the roads waving him on.

At the halfway point, Tom said: "I am honestly exhausted, I don’t think my body has felt this kind of pain, I’ve never had to do anything like this ever before. The weather has been absolutely horrendous, with wind and rain, and there were some periods when it was so misty, we could barely see in front of us. I had to push up a hill for about 15 minutes earlier and I was going at two and a half mph because I couldn’t push anymore."

With the end in sight, tomorrow Tom will take on his ultramarathon of 30 miles, running towards his hometown Plymouth. The final destination is the iconic Smeaton’s Tower, where family, friends and supporters will be waiting to no doubt give him a rapturous hero’s welcome.

The next two days are set to test Tom’s fitness and drive like never before, and all of the highs and lows will be captured at every moment along the way for a special one-hour BBC One and iPlayer documentary, produced by Twofour, to air in March, ahead of Red Nose Day which returns on Friday 18th March.

The money raised by Tom Daley will help support vital life changing work, tackling issues including homelessness, domestic abuse, poverty and mental health problems in the UK and around the world.

To find out more and support Tom, go to comicrelief.com/tomschallenge

ENDS

ASSETS AVAILABLE