The video consists of day-by-day summaries following Chris Boardman as he cycles from Manchester to Paris ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Set to both upbeat and gentle music tracks, the video contains both piece to cameras and interviews.
Cheerful, upbeat music starts to play.
Chris Boardman: So the day is finally here, Pedal for Paris starts today. And it starts here at the home of Cycling in Manchester. It’s an 8 day journey, 550 miles.
An illustrated map appears on screen showing the route from Manchester to Paris.
The map zooms in to highlight the route of the first day of the journey.
Chris Boardman: Day 1 is over to Ashbourne. 60 Miles, 5000 feet of climbing. And en-route we’ll be visiting one of the projects as we will everyday to spotlight action that’s already happening on climate change. This time it will be looking at planting of peat bogs and reclaiming them so that they work better for us. Right, we better get going.
Chris Boardman walks out of the National Cycling Centre and gets on his bike.
He starts cycling towards the start line.
He holds a “Pedal for Paris” flag with local school children before setting off.
School Children: 3, 2, 1, go!
Aerial drone shot of the start line, a large group of cyclists set off.
Montage shots of cyclists leaving the start line.
Tim Hollingsworth: Pedal for Paris is just a great opportunity for us at Sport England and everyone across the sport sector to help raise awareness of the need for the sector as a whole to come together and think about ways that we can contribute to greater environmental sustainability and tackle climate change. And what's brilliant about this ride is not just getting organisations from across the country to sign up to the Going for Green Pledge, but more importantly, to think everyday now about what can we do that's different. How can we either make a change to our organisation, or to our own daily lives that can help make a difference and contribute. So as they ride from Manchester to Paris, I really hope that it has raised the awareness of the issues as we head into the Paris Olympic Games.
Montage of cyclists riding through different areas of the Peak District.
Wide shot showing a high up view of the Peak District.
Chris Boardman: We're up on the Peak District Moors to have a chat with the British Mountaineering Council to see what work they're doing with peat moss.
Interview with Jon Fullwood, Access and conservation Officer at the British Mountaineering Council.
Jon Fullwood: There's more carbon stored in the UK's peatlands than all of the woodland in UK, France and Germany combined.
Shots of Chris and the British Mountaineering Council walking up a steep hill in the Peak District
Jon Fullwood: And if we can restore the peat bogs to healthy ecological status, it locks that carbon away and helps sequester more carbon into the future.
Chris and the British Mountaineering Council plant peat moss.
It’s an amazing example of working in partnership, but also where people can actually make a difference. Get involved with that campaign and make a donation, it will arrive in a project like this, doing things on the ground, taking action for nature, recovery, climate and all of the other amazing things that healthy habitats create.
Shots of Chris cycling away up a hill.
Montage shots of Chris and other cyclists riding through the Peak District.
Chris Boardman: Well, end of day one of Pedal for Paris, certainly a tumultuous day. We had biblical rain, which was very topical, we experienced climate change first-hand.
Shots of Chris cycling through heavy rainfall.
Chris Boardman: We saw some mitigation for that up in the Peaks with the British Mountaineering Council planting moss and they're having tremendous success.
Montage of shots showing Chris planting moss and talking with members of the British Mountaineering Council.
Chris Boardman: So loads of good stuff happening today. Slightly sore legs, feeling my age a bit. Same again tomorrow.
A drone shot flying over a lake in the Peak District.
Cheerful upbeat music fades out.
High energy rock music starts playing while a montage of shots shows Pedal for Paris branded support vehicles.
Chris Boardman: So it's day two of Pedal for Paris, we’re in a lovely little café in Ashbourne about to head over to Loughborough and en route we're going to visit Paddle UK to see the work that they're doing.
A map showing the route from Ashbourne to Loughborough animates on screen, an icon pops up showing Paddle UKs location on the map.
The map animates off.
Chris Boardman: Incredible stuff, galvanising thousands of volunteers to go and collect rubbish and other good stuff. So better get going.
We see a montage showing different parts of Chris’ bike.
Chris puts his helmet on, gets on his bike and starts cycling.
A quick montage of the cyclists cycling.
Aerial drone shot showing 4 riders cycling alongside a river.
Chris arrives at Paddle UK and interviews Ben Seal, Head of Access and Environment at PaddleUK.
Ben Seal: We do a lot of work to try and get people to understand the problems our rivers are facing, but also to take action to clean them up as well.
We see Chris meeting various people at PaddleUK and Chris in a canoe.
Ben Seal: Big Paddle Cleanup is a great example where we've equipped people to get out there, pull the plastic out, pull junk out the river and make a big difference. Over 4000 people got involved this year. Same again next year, we'll grow even larger.
We see Chris in a canoe holding a Pedal for Paris flag with a Paralympian.
A dog is sat in front of the Pedal for Paris flag wearing a Pedal for Paris medal.
A person places a Going for Green sticker on Chris’ bike.
Ben Seal: It just shows that if you give people the tools to be able to go and care for their local environment, they’ll want to go and do it. These are our sporting places. These are our playing pitches. We want to protect them.
A large group of people take a group photo holding Pedal for Paris flags and placards.
Chris holds a Pedal for Paris flag in front of a large body of water.
A montage of shots showing Chris and the other cyclists leaving PaddleUK and cycling to their next destination.
Drone aerial shot showing cyclists cycling around a sports track and arriving at Loughborough University.
Chris Boardman: So moving towards the end of day two on our Pedal for Paris. Welcome sunshine after the almost biblical rain. We've just stopped off at Holme Pierrepont, who’ve been doing some amazing work cleaning up our waterways. 2600 volunteers, 1800 sacks of stuff that they've collected. Another brilliant project that shows the power of sport to bring people together to make a real difference.
A montage of shots showing Chris holding Pedal for Paris signs and flags with members of Loughborough University.
A person places a Going for Green sticker on Chris’ Bike.
Chris Boardman: We’re now nearly at 130 pledges, Going for Green, so the movement's growing check in tomorrow, to see where myself and the merry band are up to.
We see a montage of shots of Chris interacting with people at Loughborough University.
The high energy rock music fades out.
A different high energy rock song starts to play.
We see close ups of different bikes.
Chris is on his bike starting to cycle for the day/
Chris Boardman: It’s day three of Pedal for Paris, just leaving Loughborough University. We are heading towards Milton Keynes today
An map animates on screen showing the route from Loughborough to Milton Keynes.
The map animates off screen.
Chris Boardman: And en route we'll be stopping and picking up Mike Tindall and James Haskell, who will be joining us.
We see Chris taking photos with Mike Tindall and James Haskell.
Mike Tindal and James Haskell laugh together while posing for photos on a tandem bike.
Mike Tindal and James Haskell attempt to ride the tandem bike but don’t make it very far. They stumble and almost fall off while laughing.
Chris Boardman: And we'll be visiting some great projects along the way, which I'm not going to tell you about now. Weather is good. Bit of a headwind. Off we go.
We see a quick cut montage of cyclists.
Mike Tindal and James Haskell are riding their tandem bike while ringing the bell.
Mike Tindal: Well, we've had three runs together. The first one wasn't great, Hask stumbled. But I think we've worked together as a team through worse situations than this. We've been on worse nights than this, so I think we can manage.
Mike and James fail to make a tight corner while on their tandem bike and crash into a bush. James swears extensively.
James Haskell: I've never been near a tandem and hopefully I never will be again.
Montage of shots showing Mike and James riding their tandem bike.
A drone aerial shot showing a large outdoor cycling park.
Chris interviews Rachel Coleman, Communications Manager at Trash Free Trails.
Rachel Coleman: So I'm Rachel. I'm from Trash Free Trails.
Montage of branding shots for Trash Free Trails.
Rachel Coleman: We’re on a mission to help people reconnect with nature through what we believe is a very simple act of removing, what you might call litter but what we are trying to call single use pollution.
Chris Boardman: Single use pollution. I've got it.
Rachel Coleman: You've got it down. We have information, resource and tools for people to take and do things themselves in the way that works best for them in their local area. So the community here, Ride Northampton, It’s a cycling collective who love riding these trails. They consistently come out and host trail cleans for their local area.
We see people riding on the trails.
A woman picks up litter from a bush on the trail.
Mike Tindal and James Haskell take photos with members of the community.
Mike and James then look for a pick up litter in bushes nearby.
Rachel Coleman: Because the kind of thing that’s shocking about litter Is that even though we know so much about what’s going into our oceans, we know basically nothing about what’s going into our terrestrial ecosystems. So we’re working to fill that knowledge gap.
Chris Boardman: Brilliant, so people who have great spaces like this where they want to get active basically, look after them, love them and, treat them as your own.
Rachel Coleman: Absolutely, and we very much have a belief that you can’t protect what you don’t love and you can’t love what you don’t know.
Mike, James and Chris take a photo with Rachel and another member of Trash Free Trails.
A person places a Going for Green sticker on Chris’ bike.
Chris Boardman: Brilliant to see another project where people can get involved and actually make a difference. Thanks a lot.
Rachel Coleman: Thank you.
Aerial shots of cyclists leaving the cycling trail.
A quick montage sequence of cyclists.
Chris Boardman: Day three over. Little bit grimy. Fantastic weather. We've come all the way to Milton Keynes.
We see a timelapse from a section of the ride travelling a great distance.
Chris Boardman: We’ve visited Trash Free Trails. We’re here with The National Badminton Centre.
Chris plays badminton at the National Badminton Centre.
Chris Boardman: We've visited some incredible projects. It's been 113 kilometres and more tomorrow.
Aerial drone shot of the National Badminton Centre.
The high energy rock music fades out.
Cheerful upbeat music fades in.
We see close up shots of Chris’ bike and the Going for Green stickers on it.
Chris Boardman: Day four and we are nearly halfway. Leaving Milton Keynes today, itself an incredible place, 200 miles of bike paths, and en route we're going to be visiting the Halton Tennis Centre, which aims to be carbon neutral in just five years.
A map animates on screen showing the journey for the day. An icon pops on screen showing where Halton Tennis Centre is.
Chris Boardman: So today is all about marginal gains, putting together all of the small things to make a big difference. So should be an interesting journey and it's going to be a hot one, temperatures above average, which is very topical. Right, better get the show on the road.
We see a montage of shots showing cyclists cycling.
Chris and the other cyclists arrive at Halton Tennis Centre.
Chris interviews Nick Leighton, Halton Tennis Centre Founder, Director & CEO.
Chris Boardman: We’re rolling towards Marlow. We've taken a break at Halton Tennis Club who have a really ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2029.
Nick Leighton: That's right. We’ve been going at this for about seven or eight years now.
Chris Boardman: And you've gone solar powered, heat pumps, you're growing some of your own vegetables.
Montage of shots showing solar panels, a vegetable garden and Chris Boardman talking with members of the sustainability team.
Nick Leighton: It's just incremental change and we have to take everybody with us. It's not just something we want to do. It's something we're passionate about but it's the right thing to do as well.
Chris hands Nick Leighton and another team member a Going for Green medal and they all hold up a Going for Green sign.
Chris Boardman: Well, I think it's amazing. Thanks for showing us around.
Nick Leighton: Pleasure.
Chris Boardman: Brilliant.
Chris Boardman walks up to a tennis court and starts playing.
He signs a cyclist’s cycling jersey.
He gets on his bike and leaves Halton Tennis Centre.
Aerial drone shot of Chris and the other cyclists cycling through the English countryside.
Chris Boardman: We are halfway. We’re at Bisham Abbey one of our national centres.
Chris and the other cyclists arrive at Bisham Abbey, greeted by a crowd of supporters cheering.
Chris shakes hands with various members of the crowd.
Chris Boardman: Halton Tennis Club's done some incredible work, they exemplify the concept of aggregation of marginal gains and other people are coming to them to see what they can do. And that's how sport can really make a difference. Here we've got Serco who manage the centre for us, have signed the Going for Green pledge and not only for this centre but all 55 that they manage so this trip is really making a difference.
Chris meets and shakes hands with Serco employees.
Chris holds a Going for Green sign with Serco employees.
Two people place Going for Green stickers on Chris’ bike.
Chris Boardman: Tomorrow we're off to London
A shot of Bisham Abbey.
The upbeat cheerful music fades out.
High energy rock music starts playing.
A quick cut montage of various bikes, including Chris’ bike with lots of Going for Green stickers place on it.
Chris Boardman: We are now over halfway and we're moving from Marlow to London.
A map animates on screen and shows the route from Marlow to London.
Chris Boardman: And actually we're already on the road. We've come to Caversham, where the British rowing team is doing their final bit of practice. They've also signed the pledge.
Close up of a piece of red Team GB bunting.
Shots of the Team GB Olympic rowing team practicing on the water.
Chris Boardman: We've now got 145 organisations committed and signed up to taking action. The sporting world very much leading. Today, we've got Dame Katherine Grainger joining us.
Chris and Dame Katherine Grainger hug.
Dame Katherine Grainger smiling while talking to another rower.
Chris Boardman: We've got Steve Backshall with us, the broadcaster and environmentalist who’s absolutely passionate about lots of the things that we've been doing today.
Steve Backshall and Dame Katherine Grainger smile while talking to other cyclists and take a selfie with Chris.
Chris Boardman: Also, a young lad, Dexter, 12 years old, he in late August, will also be riding to Paris. So we're giving him a little bit of training. Great to have some company.
Chris and Steve meet and shake Dexter’s hand.
Dexter is riding his bike with the rest of the cyclists.
Chris Boardman: Catch up with you later.
A quick montage sequence of cyclists departing for the days ride.
Steve Backshall: I think one of the interesting and important things about Pedal for Paris is how it is focusing the effects of climate change on sport and also using sport as a loudspeaker as a way of, amplifying the messages, the key messages about climate change.
Steve Backshall and Dame Katherine Grainger cycle together as they arrive at Caversham.
Steve Backshall, Helen Glover, Chris Boardman and Dame Katherine Grainger take a photo together.
Chris Boardman, Dame Katherine Grainger and Steve Backshall take a photo together while holding a Pedal for Paris flag.
Steve Backshall: Something that British rowing has done tremendously, is amplify the messages about clean water and that is something that has worked.
Montage of rowers practicing.
Steve Backshall: So if in the broader context, sport were to take on the challenges of climate change, it could have a massive impact.
Aerial drone shots of cyclists cycling down a country road.
Montage of cyclists cycling.
Chris Boardman: So day five of our 550 mile odyssey complete. We're now, as you might be able to hear in the background in the metropolis of London.
Timelapse showing a large section of the ride as the cyclists head to London.
Chris Boardman: We had some great company as well. Steve Backshall joined us. Dame Katherine Grainger is now part of the crew to go all the way to Paris.
Steve Backshall, Chris Boardman, Helen Glover and Dame Katerine Grainger take a photo together.
Dame Katherine Grainger and Chris Boardman cycling together.
Chris Boardman: And tomorrow it's the big dash for the coast.
Pedal for Paris support van drives into the shot.
The high energy rock music fades out.
Different high energy rock music starts to play.
Close ups of Chris’ bike covered in Going for Green stickers.
Pedal for Paris support van drives into shot.
Chris Boardman: Day six of Pedal for Paris and we’re already underway. It was an early start, we’ve pedalled over 60 kilometres already.
Montage of shots showing the cyclists getting ready before setting off for the ride.
Chris Boardman: We've had new people join us. Dame Sarah Storey and round the world explorer, Mark Beaumont.
Montage showing Dame Sarah Storey and Mark Beaumont getting ready for the ride.
Chris Boardman: And today's theme is football. We're going to visit Lewes Football Club and see some of the incredible work that they've been doing there.
A map animates on screen showing the route from London to Dieppe, an icon pops up on screen showing Lewes Football Club.
Chris Boardman: So, see you en route.
Montage sequence of cyclists riding through Central London and the countryside.
Mark Beaumont: I was really delighted to accept the invite from Chris and the team to come along because the ride to Paris, I think it's such a brilliant initiative to talk about climate change, talk about climate action and involving the entire community involved in cycling and active travel in this way it’s been, wow, thus far a really inspiring day. Some great conversations.
Aerial drone shots of the cyclists cycling through the countryside.
Chris and the other cyclists arrive at Lewes Football Club. Chris interviews Stef McLoughlin, Commercial Manager at Lewes Football Club.
Stef McLoughlin: As you know, we're known as Equality FC. So it makes sense that Equality FC supports sustainability because it's women and girls who are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We know that.
Chris and Stef tour the Lewes FC stadium, visit their vegetable garden and take a photo holding a Pedal for Paris flag.
Stef McLoughlin: This club is run and is full of amazing, amazing people.
Chris Boardman: And you can be one of the owners for £50 a year.
Stef McLoughlin: £50 a year.
Chris Boardman: I’m going to be part owner of a football club!
Montage showing stadium branding and football players warming up for a match.
Interview with Tim Lawler.
Tim Lawler: What a lot of organisations are doing big and small is they're looking at their own operations, they're looking at their facilities, they’re looking at how they power their venue or the stadium. But the thing that really has an impact is the participants or the fans.
Montage showing fans at Lewes FC stadium, players warming up and walking down to the pitch to start a match.
Tim Lawler: So if we take football, the biggest slice of the carbon footprint of a football club are its fans. They're the ones traveling to the stadium for the matchday and then going home. We want to encourage them to go buy public transport or to walk or to exercise there, but a lot of them drive, so it does have a major effect. And the beautiful thing about sport is it doesn't just engage people on the on the pitch it gets into households and when it's in households, people are eating meat free meals, they’re line drying their clothes, they’re turning the thermostats down. And we've proven that you can use the power of sport to get people to live greener. So actually the amazing power that sport has is to get into people's day to day lives, their habits, and start changing them.
Montage showing cyclists leaving Lewes FC, cycling through the countryside and arriving at a ferry port.
Chris Boardman: And we are here at the coast. We've had some great guests with us, Dame Sarah Storey, ripping my legs off on the way from London. We stopped at Lewes Football Club. What an incredible initiative. Incredible day to finish in England a late one tonight on the ferry, and then tomorrow it's starting to press for home and going towards Paris.
Dame Katherine Grainger and another cyclist look out off a ferry as they travel towards France.
The high energy rock music fades out.
Different high energy rock music starts playing.
A quick cut montage showing Pedal for Paris branded support vehicles and the seaside town Dieppe.
Chris Boardman: Day six done on the ferry, got here overnight, cycled through Dieppe at one o’clock in the morning. Now we're up and we're already en route out of Dieppe towards Gisors, 120 kilometres for day seven, the penultimate day of our challenge, the team is really tight now, Dame Katherine Grainger is with us.
A map animates on screen showing the route from Dieppe to Gisors.
Chris Boardman: And we're on the Avenue Verte, which is just an incredible piece of cycleway, super smooth and wide, all the way from the coast for about 60 kilometres.
Montage of shots showing cyclists on the Avenue Verte.
Chris Boardman: So we're going to crack on and will speak to you later.
Chris and the other cyclists start the ride for the day.
Montage of shots showing Chris and other cyclists cycling through the French countryside.
Dame Katherine Grainger: We know everyone on the planet is being affected by climate change and all these issues that feel really challenging. And yet there's amazing projects happening all over the country.
Montage of shots from earlier in the ride showing Chris with the British Mountaineering Council, PaddleUK and Lewes FC.
Dame Katherine Grainger: And when Chris talked about the clubs we've been visiting and the little communities that are doing just fabulous work, it just felt a really important example of showcasing where great work is being done and to bring a light to that to show people what's possible.
Montage showing Chris and other cyclists cycling through the French countryside.
Chris Boardman: That was one of my top ten favourite bike rides ever. Fantastic surface. Beautifully quiet roads, incredibly considerate motorists. We've also collected now 165 pledges for Going for Green, for our environmental push. And that's a pretty good day in my book.
Aerial drone shot of the French countryside.
The high energy rock music fades out.
Different high energy rock music fades in.
Montage of cyclists preparing to set off for the days ride.
Chris Boardman: Day eight, our final day. And we're heading from Gisors to Paris 120 kilometres.
A map animates on screen showing the final leg of the journey from Gisors to Paris.
Chris Boardman: Got a bit of a headwind. Shame we've lost Dame Sarah Storey, but we've got one Dame left, Katherine Grainger. We'll put her on the front soon. So that's it. We're off. See you later.
Montage showing cyclists setting off for the ride and cycling through the French countryside.
Sarah Storey: I think Pedal for Paris was probably my idea. I was sat talking to Chris in October last year, I think it was. And when I finished the games in Tokyo and someone asked me, Do you want to go to Paris? I said, Yes, I really do. And I think I'd like to ride there. And so I shared this idea with Chris, but he's turned it into something even bigger and better than even I could have imagined. It's bringing in this discussion that we need to have about how we can lead more active, healthy and sustainable lives. And I think it's so important that we're opening it up and visiting local communities along the way to shine a light on what's already being done and what can be done even further to make sustainability a key topic for the future.
Montage showing cyclists riding through Paris as they head towards the finish line.
Chris and the other cyclists arrive at the finish line, the Arc de Triomphe.
Chris Boardman: Well, this is it. Arc de Triomphe the finish line, eight days, 550 miles. I don't know how many thousand feet of climbing, but we've made it from Manchester to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Chris and the other cyclists hug and celebrate reaching the finish line.
Chris Boardman: We already knew that the sporting world is embedded in communities across our country, and they were perfectly placed to lead on action. Well, we've highlighted in the last week what they can do, and we want to see those volunteer numbers and those organisations that are committing to change, those numbers swell and so, sport sets the standard for a country and gives people a way to act and puts positive peer pressure on those around them as well.
Montage showing Chris at stops from all previous stops on the ride.
Chris Boardman: So I think sport can lead. And from what I've seen this week, it's going to.
Montage showing key moments from the entire ride that picks up pace.
Chris and all other cyclists are stood in front of the Arc de Triomphe holding a Pedal for Paris flag while cheering.
The video dips to white a Sport England and Pedal for Paris logo fade in.
The words “for more information please visit sportengland.org/pedalforparis” appear on screen.
The high energy music fades out.
