A group of cyclists, including six riders from the Isle of Man, are hoping to complete the entire Giro d’Italia course for charity.

They will be doing this challenge for The Toy Appeal charity, which helps give underprivileged children presents to open on Christmas.

The Giro d’Italia is one of the hardest road races in the world and one of the three ‘grand tours’ of cycling, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

A spokesperson for the Toy Appeal said: ‘There are 15 riders in this gruelling challenge taking a month away from work and funding themselves to ensure that every pound raised goes to The Toy Appeal, a charity that provides Christmas sacks to disadvantaged children in the UK.’

The Manx contingent of the team includes Guy Wolstencroft, Guy Wiltcher, John Quinn, John Coleman, Hugo Langerman and Simon Harding.

The team is aiming to complete all 21 stages of the circuit just two days before the professional riders follow suit.

The route is over 3,500 kilometres long and riders have 51,300 metres of climbing to do.

This is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest six times in just three weeks.

The challenge starts alongside the Giro d’Italia on May 5 in Ortona, on the east coast of Italy, and will end in Rome on May 26.

Guy Wosltencroft, who lives in Onchan, said: ‘However brutal and deep we will all have to dig to complete this, the euphoric feeling of helping so many children will drive us all on and upwards.

‘After so long preparing and training, I cannot wait to do a lap of Italy.’

The group will be hoping to channel their inner Mark Cavendish in Italy, with the Manx rider competing in his seventh Giro d’Italia this year, having won 16 stages of the competition in the past.

Social workers, schools, women’s refuges, food banks, and drop-in centres refer families to The Toy Appeal to make sure that every child receives presents on Christmas morning.

The riders aim to provide 2,023 sacks towards The Toy Appeal’s target of 12,000 Christmas sacks for 2023 and have set a target of £50,575 to achieve this.

Each £25 raised will provide a Christmas sack for a child who would have otherwise missed out on Christmas morning.

A spokesperson for The Toy Appeal said: ‘On average, each child will receive eight carefully selected items in their toy sack, including a main present, stocking filler, board game or puzzle, arts and crafts item, teddy, ball or sports item, and two books.’

Mr Wolstencroft said: ‘Training has been long, arduous and painful. All of us cannot wait to get started and tackle the coast routes and then up into the gruelling high mountains of the Italian Alps.’

The spokesperson said: ‘The Toy Appeal is grateful to these incredible riders for their dedication and support in making Christmas special for thousands of children.’

The team has a JustGiving page for the public to make donations in aid of its cause.