Biking to beware

THE toughest stage of the Tour de France involves a brutal 146km of endurance cycling through the French Alps, from Megeve to Morzine, L'Etape, and is arguably the ultimate racing cycling challenge. With cycling not the latest keep-fit fad, this four-part series puts a group of celebrities on course to meet the two-wheeled challenge.

Former rugby star Austin Healey, ex-cricketer Darren Gough and Winter Olympian Amy Williams are used to saddling up for sporting challenges but reality stars Lucy Mecklenburgh and Hugo Taylor, model and presenter Jodie Kidd, presenter Angellica Bell and choreographer Louie Spence may have to find muscles they didn't know they had..

Of course, Austin, Jodie and Darren are all veterans of Strictly Come Dancing, which may not initially look all that tough, but has left plenty of other stars wheezing after a particularly energetic quickstep.

Hugo toughed it out on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, and Angellica was a runner-up on the endurance show 71 Degrees North, while Darren and Louie both survived Britain's most accident-prone reality show, The Jump.

If only it was as simple as getting on your bike (drinking your milk) and pedalling up those mountains. Instead the coaches of Olympic cyclist Rob Hayles, renowned sports scientist Asker Jeukendrup and Britain's most successful Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey have come up with a two-month programme to prepare the celebs for the challenge with punishing exercises plus the need to spend 25 hours in the saddle every week.

There will also be team-bonding events designed to give this peloton the "esprit de corps" they need. They'll take on everything from aerial yoga to aqua cycling, as well as pampering sessions to relax their aching muscles. They'll certainly need those occasional treats, as even before the series starts there have been reports in the press of some of the celebs suffering injuries.

We'll get a taste of just how tough it is going to be in this first episode, as the stars make their way to the Lee Valley velodrome, ready for some heavy duty fitness tests.

As you might expect, it's the sports stars who initially shine in the early stages, while some of the entertainers struggle to keep up.

But it's Jodie Kidd who finds herself in the most trouble as the celebs tackle a particularly mucky assault course, which leaves her with a badly injured knee.

Will this early setback put her out of the running, or can she make enough of a recovery to get back on her bike and prepare to head to France?

The Last Miners (BBC1, 9pm)

THE concluding part of the documentary charting the final days of Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire, the last deep coal pit in Britain, follows miners Sheldon, Jonesy, Kev and Jack as they complete their shifts and switch off the machines. It's an emotional time as they say goodbye not just to some of their colleagues, but also to a way of life which has supported them for decades. They are all determined that they won't be left on the scrapheap, but while some adapt relatively easy to a life above ground, others struggle to find a new work. Can all the men secure themselves a future beyond the pit? And even if they do, will they continue to think of themselves as miners at heart?

Our Guy in China (Channel 4, 9pm)

GUY Martin's latest trip takes him to the city of Beijing, where he ignores the tourist traps and follows his own passions as he reveals a lesser-seen side of China. He meets families who live on a scrapyard and earn their livings by processing old cars and spends an afternoon helping out by operating the cranes and machinery, before visiting the hub of the market for rare and exotic supercar sales and assists in the building of what will be the tallest building in Beijing, the China Zun skyscraper.

Viv Hardwick