A CREDITON woman will tomorrow, Saturday, June 23, begin a cycle marathon of more than 3,500 kms in aid of a charity which helps disadvantaged young people to fulfil their potential and stay away from a life of crime by using the mediums of sports, arts and education.

Entrepreneur and Business Consultant, Davinia Bulford-Cooper (31) will be taking part in The William Wates Memorial Trust Tour de Force 2012.

The Tour de Force riders will leave Liege in Belgium and cycle the 2012 route of The Tour de France, staying a week ahead of the professionals, and finishing in Paris on July 15, nearly 3,500 km later.

Davinia explained: "This will be an epic challenge for everyone who takes part, whether they are cycling one, two or all 20 stages.

"All the cyclists will go above and beyond their personal limits, requiring herculean levels of stamina, mental strength and humour.

"They will battle through adversity in the form of sleep deprivation, awful weather, aching bodies and kilometre after kilometre of challenging terrain!"

The charity Davinia is supporting is a grants giving registered charity set up in 1998.

It exists to celebrate the life of William Wates (1977- 1996) who was tragically killed when travelling in South America. His family set up the trust "to shine some light into the lives of young people who have not had the advantages that Will enjoyed and we feel the aims of the trust reflect where his interests would have been if he was alive today".

Since 1998 the Trust has donated more than £1 million and helped more than 8,000 disadvantaged young people fulfil their potential.

Davinia said she was supporting the William Wates Memorial Trust to help raise funds to support the work they do to help children in the UK.

She added: "In 2010 I was the only woman in the world to complete the Tour de Force route.

"Can I do it again this year?  I don't know, because it's really hard, but I'll give it a try and with your support behind each push of each pedal - I hope I can make it again."

Davinia will be among about a dozen of the 150 riders who intend to complete the whole 20 stages.

It will include five mountain stages, involve cycling for more than six hours-a-day and also include two time trials.

Readers can sponsor Davinia via the website: http://www.bmycharity.com/davinia">http://www.bmycharity.com/davinia .

If you are a UK taxpayer, she asks that you tick the Gift Aid box, as any donation is then worth an extra 25 per cent.

Davinia added: "Please support the cyclists taking part generously.  They will earn every penny of your sponsorship.

"I'm also going to be tweeting live from the tour and my twitter account is http://www.twitter.com/Davinia_AWGS follow">www.twitter.com/Davinia_AWGS follow me!

Alan Quick