Paralysed jockey to ride hand-bike 140 miles across UK to support charities which helped him

A former jockey who was left paralysed from the chest down will set out on a 140-mile cycling challenge this summer to raise cash for two charities that helped him in his hour of need. Jacob Pritchard Webb, from Earl Shilton, near Hinckley, was enjoying a promising riding career in France when he had a serious fall in June 2020.

Despite his injuries he has managed to continue with a career in the racing media and the horse-breeding world and even hopes to represent Team GB in the next Paralympics as a wheelchair table-tennis player. But, for now at least, the 25-year-old has decided to do a three-day, 140-mile 'hand-bike' ride between two Jockey Club racecourses - Cheltenham and Newmarket.

The ride in July is to raise a target of £25,000 each for two charities that have supported him since the accident - the Injured Jockeys Fund and the Matt Hampson Foundation in Leicestershire. Jacob hopes to be joined by the likes of former champion jockey Sir AP McCoy and international Rugby player Mike Tindall for parts of the journey.

He said: “Doing a hand cycle from Cheltenham to Newmarket over three days seemed like a good idea when I came up with it, but the closer I get to the start date it seems quite daft now. I’ll be on the contraption that you’d see in the London Marathon, which is run solely on arm power.

"It’s going to take some time to get used to, but it should be good fun and we’ve got around 20 people involved. I’ll be doing the full run alongside my mum, dad and girlfriend, while my nan - I think - is driving the support vehicle.

"Through the Matt Hampson Foundation we’ve asked former international rugby players Mike Tindall, Nicky Robinson and Rhys Priestland if they’d like to join us too. So, it could be quite the