Mum fights cancer with charity ride

When doctors told Jane Tomlinson she had terminal bone cancer in 2000, her immediate reaction was a little out of the ordinary.

The married mother-of-three, whose exercise routine had previously extended only to the odd spot of gardening, took up jogging.

Four years on, having defied medical experts' predictions, the 40-year-old radiographer has run the London Marathon, cycled the length of Britain, completed a triathlon - and raised nearly £500,000 for charity.

Most would think such feats quite enough. But tomorrow she will announce her most gruelling expedition yet - a 2,500-mile, five-week bike ride from the Vatican in Rome to her native Leeds.

Ms Tomlinson will start the tandem cycle trek on 3 May, with her brother Luke, in a bid to raise £1million, cycling 75 miles a day.

"I know it's a huge undertaking," she said. "I've just finished chemotherapy and that was really hard, it left me very unwell, and it can make you very depressed. But this gives me focus and something to plan for. After that I'll rest."

Ms Tomlinson, married to Mike, 42, has three children, Suzanne, 18, Rebecca, 15, and Steven, six.