Winter Olympic hopefuls Finlay Mickel, Noel Baxter and Dougie Crawford are preparing to swap skis for bikes to raise money for charity.

The Scots will compete in the 81-mile Etape Caledonia cycle in a bid to raise over £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Alain Baxter, who recently announced his retirement from international ski racing, will also take part with the team.

"I can't wait to race this year when I'm 100 per cent fit," said Mickel, who missed most of this season with a broken leg.

"Last year I was recovering from a broken ankle and raced with my air cast on which made things interesting! Everyone thought I was crazy but I got there in the end.

"Training so far has been ok. My 96kg downhill weight isn't the best for riding uphill but I'm looking forward to smashing past people on the downhill sections."