Wheelchair athlete targets 8th world record

A wheelchair athlete is attempting to set another world record by completing one of the toughest stages of the Tour de France.

Lexi Chambers, from Exeter, will attempt to climb the Alpe d'Huez, a total of 6,100ft (1860m) over 14km (8.6 mile) in a standard non-racing manual wheelchair on 23 July.

The former NHS nurse and Army veteran has already set seven Guinness World Records, which include the fastest women's half marathon and marathon in a non-sports wheelchair, and the fastest time from Lands End to John O'Groats by a female wheelchair user.

Chambers said she hoped by using a standard wheelchair it would "show people that they do not need specialist kit to engage in sport".

She has fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome, which resulted in her leg being amputated in 2018.

"I dreamt this up when I was doing John O'Groats to the Land's End a couple of years ago," Chambers said.

"I was going up various elevations and I realised when I was doing it that, actually hills aren't too bad... [and] wondered which one I could possibly do that was a kind of iconic that I could get a wheelchair up and I came up with the Alpe d'Huez.

"I thought what better way to challenge myself."

She said it was a "precursor" to a challenge in March 2027 where she aims to travel the width of the USA from San Diego to Florida, which she said was "about 120 marathons back-to-back".

Chambers said she had been training all year, and completed three marathons a week along with regular gym sessions.

In 2025, she completed 10 ultramarathons in 10 days.

She said she would take on the latest challenge a day before the Tour de France cyclists compete on the route.

"To give it context Ben Nevis [the highest mountain in the UK], is 4,400ft, so it's quite an incline"

"I think, 18% is the highest gradient, which is a bit like kind of wheeling the chair up a flight of stairs."

Chambers said there were three reasons why she does the challenges.

One was to show people that anyone can engage in sport, two was to raise money for the charity Team Forces, which supports veterans do "these kind of events", and thirdly was to promote women's rugby.

Chambers said she had received messages from people that said they had started using their wheelchair for sport after seeing her challenges.

"I didn't think in a million years that I would be inspiring anybody," she said.

"I kind of like have inspiration from other people, I don't think that that's me really, and it's not something that I sort of see in myself.

"Hopefully it will help other people engage in sport, when they did not realise that they could."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.