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Geoff Thomas MBE: Ex-Wolves player completes Tour de France

Joolze Dymond The team at the Arc de TriompheJoolze Dymond
The team rode into Paris on Sunday and finished the route near the Arc de Triomphe

A team of amateur cyclists led by ex-Wolves footballer Geoff Thomas MBE has completed the Tour de France route.

The team has raised over £1m for blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia, of which Mr Thomas is a survivor.

They cycled some 2,100 miles (3,400km) battling "extreme" heat, illness and fatigue. The team finished the feat a week ahead of the professionals.

England manager Gareth Southgate sent his former Crystal Palace teammate a good luck message ahead of the ride.

He said: "Just wanted to send you a message to say the very best of luck with it, I hope the limbs are recovering reasonably well every night and I'm very proud of what you're doing as always. Keep battling on."

Gareth Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate played with Geoff Thomas at Crystal Palace

The cyclists also received congratulations from Chris Froome OBE.

Mr Thomas, from Redditch, Worcestershire, was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June for his charity work.

He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2003, a year after he retired from football.

He captained Palace in their 1990 FA Cup Final defeat and made over 450 club appearances for Palace, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Crewe, Rochdale, Barnsley and Notts County.

He was also capped nine times for England.

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When he was first diagnosed, the former midfielder was given three months to live, but overcame the disease two years later after treatment and a stem cell transplant.

Mr Thomas, who has completed the Tour de France on five occasions, said: "Six weeks ago, it didn't look like this event could take place.

"Yet here we are in Paris having not only completed one of the toughest ever Tour de France routes but, more importantly, we have achieved our goal of raising £1m for the charity that helped save my life 18 years ago."

Joolze Dymond Geoff ThomasJoolze Dymond
Cheers! Geoff Thomas completed the Tour de France for a fifth time

He added: "You never know, perhaps I do have one more Tour in me".

The charity's chief executive, James McLaughlin, said: "Ensuring this event could go ahead has been a Herculean effort from so many people and I would like to thank everyone that has played a part in making The Tour 21 a success.

"To raise £1m is incredible and I want to thank all of the riders, their families, friends and colleagues because taking this event on requires enormous sacrifices long before the start."

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