TODAY, The Northern Echo's Matt Westcott has joined hundreds of cyclists for the Prostate Cancer UK Football to Amsterdam charity ride.

The 145-mile trek is in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, the charity that aims to improve the care and welfare of those affected by prostate cancer, increase investment in research, and raise public and political awareness of the disease.

Prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer to become the third biggest cancer killer in the UK, new research shows, with the number of men dying every year overtaking the number of women dying from breast cancer.

Current figures show that 11,819 men are dying from prostate cancer in the UK every year - the equivalent of one man every 45 minutes.

This compares with 11,442 women who die from breast cancer.

  • If you would like to donate just a pound to Prostate Cancer UK then visit Matt's Just Giving page

Matt said: "It's a disease that has left its mark on my family - last year my father was diagnosed with it.

"A man, in his mid-70s and seemingly as fit as the proverbial butcher's dog, he made perhaps his first visit to a doctor's in over a decade due to a severe cold and came out having been diagnosed with cancer.

"It is down to the doctor offering the opportunity of a routine test while he was in his surgery that my dad is fighting and winning his battle with the disease.

"So you will now appreciate why the two-day ride to Holland in June - two weeks before the start of the World Cup - means so much more to me than it might otherwise have.

"I'm not doing it alone. A total of 400 other riders are making the journey - many with their own personal reasons for doing so.

The group is setting off from two points - Matt's group from Barnsley to Hull and a second group going from London to Harwich. Both then join up in Rotterdam before the glorious ride to Amsterdam, finishing at Ajax's fantastic Amsterdam Arena.

In addition, Matt is joined by a number of celebrity riders.

Among those riding is former Hartlepool manager Danny Wilson and former Middlesbrough assistant manager Viv Anderson. Both have completed the event before, Anderson being something of a veteran.