The Tour de France kicked off on Saturday, and one Paraparaumu local decided he wanted to get involved.

But rather than travelling all the way to France to take part, or just watching it, Greg Josephs is streaming the race on his television and cycling along in his garage – at 1am.

“I decided I’m not just going to get up and watch the Tour de France in the middle of the night.”

The idea of doing it came to him just the day before the race started, and he decided to also raise money for charity.

 “It was a good way to motivate myself to get involved.”

He’s asking people to pledge just one cent for every kilometre he cycles – and all of the money raised will go to Te Kiwi Maia, a charity that provides rehabilitation, recovery and respite to New Zealand’s first responders.

“When I looked at Te Kiwi Maia, I thought, ‘Wow, what an amazing charity’, because of the challenges the emergency services face - they can’t just go home and leave it behind, it’s always with them.”

The charity is especially important to him as he is a logistics officer in the New Zealand Army, and Te Kiwi Maia works very closely with the military.

In fact, it was that military posting that sparked Josephs’ passion for the Tour de France, and he actually rode one stage of the race.

He had previously been mainly a mountain biker, but after taking up road cycling in France, he got the chance to get involved in the L’Etape du Tour de France, where they open one stage of the Tour de France to amateur bikers.

Greg Josephs cycles in his garage alongside the Tour de France. Photo / Grace Odlum

Josephs plans on cycling alongside the Tour de France every night until July 27 when the race ends, and he said it’s going to be challenging.

“Basically, for me, this is a mental and physical challenge.”

“For one, to have the mental aptitude to be able to get up at one every morning, throw on the cycling gear and go in a very cold garage.

“And physically, I have set myself a goal of at least 50 kilometres a stage, and I’m easily achieving it at this stage.”

While Josephs is watching the Tour de France from the other side of the world, he is headed to Europe later this year, travelling to Dusseldorf in Germany as part of the management team in the Invictus Games.

Founded by Prince Harry in 2014, the Invictus Games is an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick members of the military, whether they’re currently serving or veterans.

Josephs says this year’s event will feature 500 competitors representing 22 nations.

If you want to donate to Te Kiwi Maia, you can do so by going here.