Rugby legend Martin Johnson leads Vélo Birmingham & Midlands CBRE Business 100 training ride

With just over five weeks to go until Velo Birmingham & Midlands 2019, England Rugby legend Martin Johnson led over 150 keen Velo participants on a Saturday morning cycle through the Warwickshire countryside.

The Solihull-born World Cup-winning captain and ride ambassador for Vélo Birmingham & Midlands took on the 40-mile training ride alongside companies that have entered the CBRE Business 100 challenge.

Velo Birmingham & Midlands 2019 is taking place on Saturday 12 May, with 20,000 riders taking on the 100 mile closed road route through the West Midlands. Over 1,000 riders are taking part to raise money for the hospital charity, helping to support patients at their local hospital.

The CBRE Business 100 challenge offers a VIP experience coupled with exclusive and networking opportunities. Saturday’s training ride was hosted by the award-winning Purity Brewery near Alcester. Purity Brewery produces Saddle Black; a beer created to celebrate the brewery location being discovered during a bike ride.

The Vélo Birmingham Business 100 challenge doubled its £100,000 fundraising target at the 100-mile closed-road cycle sportive in 2017. This added to a total figure of well over £2 million raised for charities across the UK by individual participants.

Martin Johnson said: “Events like this are great for this area. It’s a fantastic place to ride your bike – something people don’t always realise.

“It’s great to show off the beautiful countryside and will be the perfect showpiece for the Midlands.”

Among the cyclists at the CBRE Business 100 Training Ride was BBC Coventry & Warwickshire radio presenter and keen cyclist Phil Upton, who will be taking on Vélo Birmingham & Midlands as a Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity ambassador.

Phil Upton, pictured with Martin Johnson.

He said: “On behalf of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham I’d like to say a massive thank-you to the cyclists at Vélo Birmingham in 2017 who raised £200,000 for good causes through the Business 100.

“We are in a position where we are going to have 1,000 cycling in the QEHB jersey on Sunday, May 12, and we’re delighted to see the great Chris Boardman among our number on the day.

“We’re really hopeful of smashing our 2017 figure and if you’re not signed up for a charity and thinking about doing so I’d urge you to support QEHB.”