Ex-footballer Geoff Thomas to continue fundraising after Tour exit

Geoff Thomas said he still hopes to take on the Tour de France challenge a further time

Former England footballer Geoff Thomas has vowed to continue fundraising after knee pain forced him out of a Tour de France challenge.

Mr Thomas, who received nine caps for the national team, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2003.

As part of his fundraising he annually leads a group of amateur cyclist along the Tour de France route.

But the 57-year-old quit his sixth attempt after a week due pain in his knees, where he has arthritis.

The Tour 21 team put together by Mr Thomas, from Worcestershire, has raised close to £1m for Cure Leukaemia through the challenge and Mr Thomas said he has set himself a new challenge

"When I got off the bike I thought 'no more' - but if I can get my knee sorted, I have a big number coming up. I don't even think about age any more but I am 60 in a couple of years' time," he said.

"In my mind, I am thinking maybe six and out, something like that."

The former midfielder was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia a year after he retired.

When he was first diagnosed with leukaemia, the former Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers player was given three months to live. But he overcame the illness two years later after treatment and a stem cell transplant.

He subsequently raised millions of pounds for charity, became a patron of Cure Leukaemia and launched his own charity, The Geoff Thomas Foundation.

When he cycled the Tour de France route in 2005, months after being declared in remission, he won the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award.

Mr Thomas completed the challenge with his team in 2021

He was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2021.

"There are so many people who go through a battle with cancer and it is not the end game," he added.

"It can be a fresh start. For me it made me evaluate what is important in life and health is number one."