The wheel heroes

The mountain on which Michael Rasmussen ground his rivals into submission before being sacked that night by his team and from which Cristian Moreni was led away by police after failing a doping test spread out its evil inclines to an altogether more worthy group of riders.

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Former England footballer Geoff Thomas and four fellow cancer survivors are on a mission to raise funds to fight the killer disease. Their Tour is the same as that traversed by the peloton, albeit two days later.

Same lung-bursting climbs, same stamina-sapping 120-mile marathons, but with no crowds to cheer them, no police cars to clear their route, no all-mod-cons team bus to cosset them at the finish.

And no foreign substances fuelling their bodies. Well, that is not exactly true. Throat cancer survivor Dave Grainger is suspected of ingesting performance-enhancing custard.

Thomas said: "Every time Dave has a tub of custard, he seems to find his legs and go from strength to strength up the climbs. He's actually enjoying some of the severe climbs in the Pyrenees whereas he was struggling even on the flat before."

A flippant remark, but one which sets the Tour de France into the lighter context of a challenge of human endurance to be attacked with good grace and humour.

Thomas added: "We're just trying to show the spirit of what the Geoff Thomas Foundation is about. When you're battling against cancer, it really broadens your limits. From thinking, 'I'm not sure I can do that', it changes your attitude to one of, 'Let's give it a go'."

His former Crystal Palace and England team-mate Ian Wright rode four stages, but, as Thomas mischievously points out, ducked out just as the Alps came into view.

The group, who have so far raised around £130,000 for the foundation, have had to contend with traffic lights at red, one-way streets that the peloton were allowed to go down the wrong way and a satellite navigation system that has sent them miles out of their way on occasions.

The Tour de France is gruelling enough. Adding detours and stop signs only adds to the purgatory.

Thomas, now 43, would not have it any other way. This year's journey is just as emotional as the one he undertook two years ago when he first tackled the Tour. The strength in his body now makes him realise how far he has come since then.

It is why he simply shakes his head at the behaviour of Rasmussen and the Tour cheats.

He added: "It's a fabulous event. It just needs stopping and restarting. Get rid of the old guard, the back-up management teams, the doctors. There has got to be a clean sweep somewhere along the line.

"Anybody caught should be banned from the sport. That's the only thing that's going to save it. What other reason would you start taking substances other than trying to get a step up on someone else?

"It's happened too many times now and you start questioning every single rider, which is very, very sad, especially when you look at people like Bradley Wiggins and you know that he is as clean as anything. You can see the frustration in his face."

Thomas witnessed the drama surrounding Wiggins' Cofidis team at first hand. As their Tours coincided in Pau, they shared the same hotel. When Moreni was arrested, the police swamped the place.

Thomas had not ridden that day due to a chest infection for which he was prescribed 3,000mg of antibiotics.

He said: "It's a bit dodgy, isn't it? I'd better be careful. They might be raiding my hotel room next."