They rode from Rochester to Canterbury to help publicise the Cyclosportive ride on Sunday, July 1, when 5,000 cyclists will ride the tour stage one route from Greenwich to Canterbury.

On their arrival at Canterbury Cathedral on Friday, the cyclists were greeted by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Cyril Windsor.

The group was made up of journalists and representatives from the Geoff Thomas Foundation, which raises money for cancer treatment and is the official charity of Cyclosportive.

The city council’s executive member for tourism, Cllr Mike Patterson, said: "Canterbury will receive worldwide publicity when Le Tour de France comes to the city in July.

"The race is beamed to dozens of countries, giving us an audience of millions of people.

"It was good to welcome national journalists to the city.

"They were very impressed with Canterbury and the Cathedral in particular, and many of them will be back here in July to cover the tour itself."

Cathedral spokesman Chris Robinson added: "More than 30 Cathedral cyclists will be riding from Canterbury to Rome in August to raise money for the Cathedral’s fund-raising appeal, so having the professionals here in July will give them a boost during their final preparations."

For more details about the Cyclosportive event on July 1, go to www.everydaycycling.com; to find out more about Le Tour de France in Canterbury on

Sunday, July 8, go to www.tourdefrancecanterbury.com

The KM Group is the Tour de France media partner for stage one of the race, which will end by Victoria recreation ground

in Canterbury.