The One Show's Rickshaw Challenge will return this year.

Matt Baker, Alex Jones and the Rickshaw Challenge team

Matt Baker, Alex Jones and the Rickshaw Challenge team

Matt Baker will join a team of six youngsters, all supported by BBC Children in Need-funded projects, to take on a gruelling 423-mile route from Calais to Salford over eight days for this year's Tour de Rickshaw, which will begin in France on November 9 and conclude on November 16 in Salford during the 'BBC Children in Need Appeal Show'.

The 'One Show' presenter said: "This is the eighth year that we'll be heading out on the roads with the Rickshaw Challenge and I can't wait to get back in the saddle alongside six truly inspirational young people.

"Every year the support that we get never ceases to amaze me, it's fantastic to see how people from all across the UK get behind the challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing all those friendly faces willing us on again this year, and helping us to raise so much money for a charity which is incredibly close to my heart."

Matt's 'The One Show' co-host Alex Jones added: "The Rickshaw Challenge is a chance for our viewers to really see how funding from BBC Children in Need is making a difference to young people's lives.

"It's one of the highlights of our year at 'The One Show', and I can't wait to cheer on the team as they conquer another epic journey across the country on the rickshaw."

The team will begin the annual challenge - which is in its eighth year - by pedalling 31 miles through the service tunnel of the Channel Tunnel before heading north from Folkestone, and finally finishing in Salford.

Experts at McLaren Racing and McLaren Applied Technologies have created a next generation rickshaw for the charity ride.

The One Show's Rickshaw Challenge began in 2011 and has raised more than £21 million for BBC Children in Need since.

And this year, the public can also lend their support through pedalling by logging their own miles through cycling app Strava, which will automatically add their distance to the collective total.

'The One Show' viewers will be able to follow Team Rickshaw's progress on the show each day, but the full route - including a real-time update of the rickshaw's progress - is also available at http://pudsey.viewranger.com/.

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