COMING to Chapter Cardiff on April 29-30 will be The Gladiator which is a brand new production based on the story of the first racing bike.

RCT Theatres and Chainworks Productions will present this inspiring and funny story as it embarks on a Wales wide tour.

Before the Tour de France and before Sir Bradley Wiggins, there was Arthur Linton from Aberdare in south Wales. A world cycling champion in 1895 who took on the best and left behind not only the first drug scandal, but also the first racing bike – The Gladiator.

Fast forward to modern day and we meet 18-year-old Jimmy, who stumbles upon the Gladiator in his garage – along with the ghost of trainer Choppy Warburton, who has returned in search of ‘honour and dignity’.

Unfortunately for Jimmy this involves embarking on the epic Bordeaux to Paris bike race – without ever leaving his garage. A surreal journey full of pitfalls and punctures where he must survive the attentions of his goth girl neighbour, his model wannabe twin sister, his mother’s slimeball of a boyfriend, his hapless dad who’s been missing for ten years – and the lure of shame or glory.

Written by Wales’s very own Laurence Allan, tickets cost £10 and concessions cost £8 and are available from chapter.org or call 02920 304400.