A COUPLE more used to life in the corporate world have got on their bikes to launch a luxury cycling holiday business miles away from home in Spain.

Mark and Zoe Lancaster, both 43, have left their high-profile jobs and sold their £400,000 house in Lymm, Cheshire, to bankroll Cycle Retreats which begins taking its first guests in October.

It will run from a luxury hillside villa near Alicante and aims to deliver the ultimate getaway for cycling enthusiasts.

It is something Mark – a technical director of a construction firm – and Zoe, who is managing director of a private healthcare company, have planned for some years before they decided to get in the saddle and take the plunge.

Zoe said: “Cycle Retreats has been our dream for a long time.

“We realised there are very few first-class experiences for keen cyclists. So we created one.

‘We are both keen cyclists and we took some time to ask ourselves what it is we really wanted to do and just decided to go for it’ Zoe Lancaster “Our daughter is happily settled into university and neither of us relish staying on the corporate treadmill forever.

“We are both keen cyclists and we took some time to ask ourselves what it is we really wanted to do. So we just decided to go for it.

“Cycle Retreats will be the cyclist’s equivalent of a luxury ski lodge, combining spectacular rides with first-class food and luxurious accommodation.”

Mark and Zoe are now putting the final plans in place before flying out to Spain later this year for Cycle Retreats’ official launch.

Bookings are currently being taken for the first retreat, which is set to take place in October.

Zoe has the small matter of organising Riding for Change, a charity bike ride that will take 50 riders from London to Paris over four days while raising money for local charities.

  •  To book your cycling getaway, or for further information on the company, call 502870 or visit the website at cycleretreats.com.