LPT team had been due to enter three-day event to raise profile and vital funds

It is with great regret that the Hot Chillee Operations Team has this week decided that the London to Paris 2020 cycle ride will not be held due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak in January, The Little Princess Trust team has been following guidance from public health authorities in relation to our involvement in the proposed cycle ride and has been liaising with the Hot Chillee organisers on a regular basis.

Everyone at LPT knows that many of the team's cyclists have put in many hours of training for the event that was due to leave London on July 16 and arrive in the beautiful French capital on July 18 while all at our charity were eagerly looking forward to the event.

However, the health and safety of all riders and those supporting the cyclists must come first and, for this reason, we fully understand the decision made this week by Hot Chillee.

The unprecedented situation caused by coronavirus has made training challenging and, in order to avoid putting cyclist under any unnecessary pressure to get out onto the roads, Hot Chillee will not be rescheduling the event this year. It will instead be deferred to 2021 to provide riders with more confidence and certainty when planning training schedules.

Whilst this is disappointing news for those cycling, it also has implications for the charity's fundraising and income for 2020. Staff at The Little Princess Trust will, therefore, be doing everything we can do to ensure that London to Paris 2021 is bigger and better.

Hot Chilli have automatically moved all cyclists' entries to July 2021 and we will be in touch when the dates are finalised. Should they not be suitable, riders can use their entry as a credit towards another of the Hot Chillee multi-day events planned in 2021.

We at The Little Princess Trust know how disappointing this news will be for all of of those who have trained for many months and were raising funds for our charity – and we are extremely grateful for all the support we have received.