Kevin Mahaney, 43, plans to ride the Tour de France in the same fashion as Lance Armstrong.

SALEM, Ore. (CNN/Money) – In less than a month Lance Armstrong will chase an unprecedented seventh straight victory of the Tour de France, the 21-day bike race covering 2,241 miles in France.

While many diehard fans will ride some of the course, either for bragging rights or to get the best vantage point, 43-year-old Kevin Mahaney is planning to ride every mile of the course in 21 days -- with two rest days -- starting and finishing each stage one day before the real peloton.

It's a pretty lofty goal considering that Mahaney only started cycling three years ago.

"If you're going to ride a bike, the ultimate ride is the Tour," said Mahaney, who is the president and CEO of the Olympia Companies, a real estate development firm based in Portland, Maine.

Mahaney is a lifelong overachiever. He won a silver medal in sailing at the 1992 Olympic Games, beat cancer in 1993, founded and skippered the America's Cup syndicate "Young America" in 1995 and won a national age-group championship in snowboarding in 2004, to name of few of his accomplishments.

After watching the Tour on television in 2002, Mahaney rented a bike and headed for Cadillac Mountain in Maine, where he struggled to climb a fraction of what he'll be climbing most days in July. Not easily discouraged, he hired Josh Powers, a coach with Carmichael Training Systems. (For the uninitiated, Chris Carmichael is Lance Armstrong's personal coach.)

"The hardest part for me is I've never done this sport, and I'm not very good," said Mahaney, having just finished is typical three-hour daily training ride. "This week, I'll be on the bike 22 to 23 hours."

While training has no doubt been tough, one of the biggest challenges for Mahaney was finding a tour company that would give him the most realistic experience possible – complete with team riders, support vehicles, three massage therapists, a mechanic, bikes, and team "kit" that includes matching helmets, jerseys, bibs and socks.

"Most of the tour companies offer one set program," said Joe Tonon, founder of Destination Cycling, the company that has organized Mahaney's one-man Tour de France Challenge. "What we're doing is mimicking what the pro teams do."

To that end, eight top-notch riders have been recruited to lead Mahaney through different parts of the course. By riding behind other cyclists – as Lance does for most of his race – Mahaney will be able to ride for longer stretches at a faster pace than he could on his own.

"Every team member is different," Tonon explained. "We have what we call our 'diesel engines' who can sit at the front of a pack and ride all day at 24 miles an hour, and we have skinny little guys who can climb all day long."

Although "team" riders have strict orders to ride with the goal of getting Mahaney to the finish line in Paris, their all-expenses paid trip through France is as much an experience for them as it is for their captain. "I'm pretty excited," said Marc Lanoue, one of the pro riders on Mahaney's team. "I've never heard of anyone doing anything like this."

Mahaney declined to tell CNN/Money exactly what he's paying for this experience, other than to say he is underwriting the entire cost of the trip, including all transportation, accommodations, equipment and support.

Moreover, he's turned his personal goal of riding the Tour into a fundraising vehicle for Lance Armstrong's cancer foundation and Tyler Hamilton's multiple sclerosis foundation. Mahaney is donating $1 per kilometer to the charities and is hoping that he will inspire others to donate to these organizations or just get off the couch.

Will Mahaney continue cycling after he cruises up the Champs-Elysées on the final day?

"Maybe," he said. "But downhill."

You don't need to be wealthy or in superhuman shape to partake in the Tour de France. Destination Cycling, Breaking Away Bicycle Tours and Trek Travel, to name just a few, organize more laid-back tours tied to the Tour de France.