Le Col Custom: Club Peloton

Creating Custom Kit for Corporate Partners

Club Peloton has grown into one of the most recognised charity cycling communities in the property industry, but its beginnings were far more modest. What started as one man’s ambition to ride from London to MIPIM in Cannes has evolved into a movement that blends challenge, camaraderie, and purpose. Today, Club Peloton’s events are defined not only by the miles covered and funds raised, but by the sense of professionalism and unity created on the road, something reflected in their long-standing partnership with Le Col, chosen for its technical performance, reliability, and ability to deliver premium custom kit that riders can trust across multi-day challenges.

In this interview, we explore how Club Peloton came to life, what continues to drive its mission, and why its events have become such a powerful force for connection, fundraising, and personal achievement within the industry. 

The Story Behind the Event / Partnership

How did Club Peloton begin?

Club Peloton began with one man, Peter Murray, co-founder of New London Architecture, who came up with the idea to cycle from London to the MIPIM Property Fair in Cannes in 2006. He put out a call to anyone who was interested in joining him for that first ride in 2006 and 17 pioneers left for Cannes in the cold March of that year, all inspired by Peter’s infectious enthusiasm. Peter realised that cycling to MIPIM was a great way to network with fellow industry professionals, and the ride grew year on year. 

After three outings, Peter realised it was growing faster than anticipated and had the potential to become a major industry fundraising event, and that’s when our CEO Nick Hanmer was brought in. Barring two off-bike years (2020 and 2021), Cycle to MIPIM is still going strong and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2026. 

What inspired you to create this event or collaboration?

That’s really a question for Peter Murray but the idea behind it was for people to travel to Cannes without flying, and raise money in the process. The scale of the challenge has inspired a lot of other people - many of whom weren’t “cyclists” - to take part, not just once, but many times over. 

What makes your community or event different from others in cycling?

Our community enjoys the combined benefits of networking, riding their bikes and fundraising. We use cycling as a platform for events (both on and off the bike) that bring together a love for the sport and the opportunity to network while raising money to transform the lives of young people.

All Club Peloton events allow industry professionals to swap their business attire for Lycra (Le Col!) and build much stronger relationships by facing tough challenges together. With marshalled roads, lead cars, support crew and vehicles, sports injury specialists and mechanics, this is the closest an amateur cyclist can get to riding like a professional.

As a grant-making charity, Club Peloton supports a number of charitable projects, all of which work to transform the lives of young people. Since our first outing on two wheels in 2006, Club Peloton has made grants totalling £5.3 million to fund a variety of projects around the UK.

What do you hope riders take away from being part of it?

Our multi-day challenges give property and arbitration industry professionals the opportunity to complete tough challenges together, building stronger and more meaningful working relationships. The friendly and interactive atmosphere builds camaraderie very quickly and forms the core of the Club Peloton ethos. And of course, they are very driven by - and reap the benefits of - raising money for our charity beneficiaries. It is this motivation that often keeps them going when the going gets tough. 

How has the event or partnership evolved since it started?

We’ve added a number of fundraising events to our roster over the (almost) 20 years since 2006. Our flagship property industry focused events include our women-only pedElle ride, as well as our long-running Cycle to MIPIM, Cycle to UKREiiF and more recently, Explore was added to the calendar. We have also developed events for the arbitration industry, namely Cycle to PAW (Paris Arbitration Week) and the Dubai Arbitration Week Sunrise Cycle, with a view to expanding these in 2026.

The Kit & Collaboration

Tell us about the inspiration behind your custom Le Col design.

We had a rebrand two years ago and being able to translate that design into a custom Le Col design was a lot of fun. We were able to play with the various elements of the brand identity to create designs that are not only individual to each event, but which are also consistent across all our fundraising challenges.

How does the kit represent your story or identity?

Our kit brings together the feeling of movement, along with the three tenets of what Club Peloton stands for: riding, networking and fundraising. It also has to visually represent our corporate sponsors, while providing a memento of where and how far each ride is - AND it has to be something which riders want to wear again and again. It’s a lot to ask of one jersey but we think our kit does that - and we know that riders wear them outside of our events. That’s the biggest nod of approval we could hope for.

What’s the feeling when you see lots of riders wearing the same kit?

Very proud, and as a frustrated creative, very satisfied with the overall aesthetic. We have deliberately gone for bold and bright across our events - sometimes using colours inspired by the landscapes of the country we are visiting - and to see a group of riders all wearing the same kit (or team variations of) is quite a sight, and generally gives me goosebumps the first time I see it.

How does working with Le Col Custom enhance the experience for riders or participants?

Riders get kit from a brand they know and love, and they keep it and wear it beyond the event. It also serves a purpose by bonding people together into a team and/or a common cause, and for sponsors, there’s a feeling of pride when wearing a jersey with their logo on it.

The Ride / Experience

Describe the atmosphere on the day, what’s the energy like?

Most of our rides are multi-day challenges, so the first day is a lot of nerves and anticipation - even from riders who have ridden with us before - because, with the exception of Cycle to MIPIM, the route for every event is different every year. After that, everyone settles into a rhythm as they get used to riding together, but they are very good at supporting each other when the going gets tough. And the rides are tough!

What’s the most memorable moment or image from your event?

It’s very hard to pick one image across so many events, but I always love our finish images from Cycle to MIPIM - all the riders, in all their kit (there are four variations for MIPIM), in front of the coach (the ride is a relay so there’s a coach to transport the riders from point to point when it’s not their turn to ride).

Is there a particular route, climb, or moment that defines your event?

The route for Cycle to MIPIM was new in 2025 and we’ll be repeating it in 2026. On the fifth day, after we leave Grenoble, there are two really spicy climbs, both of which were particularly spectacular. The riders were all raving about it, despite climbing it in the snow and being very cold!

How do you keep the event welcoming for every type of rider?

We’re a small team at Club Peloton, and our crew and our Ride Captains are extensions of the core team. Our Ride Captains are riders from within the community who are our eyes and ears on the road, and many of them have been riding with us for years. 

This mix of personalities and experience, and a combined love of cycling, makes for a genuine family feeling that is extended to all our riders. We want everyone to enjoy their event and we want to see them succeed. We do everything we can to make them feel comfortable and that they can achieve anything they set their mind to. 

Community & Legacy

How does your event/partnership give back to the wider cycling community?

As well as our official fundraising rides, we run regular free coffee rides and laps sessions in London and the south east, and we have three hubs in Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh who run monthly rides. All of these are opportunities for new riders to learn group cycling skills and find like-minded people to ride with - thereby hopefully encouraging and engendering a better, friendlier cycling community all around.

Who makes it all happen behind the scenes?

The core team is Nick - CEO, Meg - Head of Events, Kate - Marketing & PR, Rhian - Fundraising & Events, and Theresa - Accounts & Chief Cheerleader. We also have some wonderful regular event crew, who help with the logistics of keeping a multi-day event running smoothly, as well as sports injury therapists who look after our riders on the road, and mechanics to look after their bikes.

Club Classic

Knight Frank Cycle to MIPIM: Cycle to MIPIM is our original fundraising challenge, attracting around 60 participants from across the real estate and built environmentsectors every year.

Distance: 1,400kms

Elevation: 17,500m

Highlights: Day five (of six) goes from Grenoble to Gréoux-les-Bains, heading due south through a number of national parks before arriving into the Haute-Provence region. It’s a day of lumpy climbs and spectacular views. The morning of day six is spent climbing and descending the Gorges du Verdon, which is just breathtaking. 

What kind of route is it: The ride is run as a relay, so riders must ride their two allocated stages every day, and can choose to do more if they wish. The route changes from the relatively flat expanses of northern France, becoming more varied and hillier the further south we go. There’s a final tough day of climbing before riders reach the Med - and the finish in Cannes - on the sixth day.