Scott's Cycle

Late last year, Anne Jones went to see a doctor regarding a bout of Lyme disease that had struck her down. He told her to stay active, keep exercising, and, if she felt up to it, head outside on her bike. “I said I wanted to go up a mountain,” she recalls. “He just laughed and said, ‘Yeah, if you think so…’ There was not a question of, ‘You’re too old for that sort of thing’, which I get quite a lot at my age.”

Jones is 84 years old. In the last two years, she has climbed three of the Tour de France’s most gruelling climbs: Mont Ventoux, the Col du Tourmalet, and her latest feat, Alpe d’Huez, which she scaled on Wednesday. The 14km ascent took her three and a half hours, during which time she stopped regularly to catch her breath and admire the mini waterfalls pouring down the rocks.

“It was a wonderful day. It couldn’t have been better,” Jones tells Cycling Weekly, still “walking on air” the morning after, having woken up in a chalet at the foot of the climb. “I’d almost say I’d do it again.”

With her challenge, Jones is hoping to raise £21,000 – a thousand for each of Alpe d'Huez's 21 hairpins – to support children in Gaza. Find out how to donate by visiting the article through the link in the comments.

(Photo: Amos Trust)