The event is considered by many to be one of the hardest of its kind, covering 500km (312miles) over the week.

The massed riders will descend on the White House Campsite in Builth Wells, Wales on Saturday in preparation for the big off early on Sunday. The first stage will take the riders 80km and 2300m of climbing and descending to Llandiloes.

Prizes will be doled out in the usual style and Gore will be loaning their kit out to the riders to try throughout the event as part of their ‘Try B4 U Buy’ concept. This includes jackets, shirts, vests or gilets and riders simply hand them back after giving the kit a really good test on the day’s stage – washing not required!

The BBC will be covering the event; a camera team will be joining the event for a few days and coverage is planned to be aired on BBC Wales at 1.30pm on Wednesday (19th August) and in between 6.30-7.00pm Wednesday (19th August).

Live race reports from www.mtbtransuk.co.uk

There’ll be tech support from Elite Tech Performance Cycle Service to keep machines running smoothly through the rigours of it all, as well as massages from MTB Works to help ease weary legs and ready them for the next day’s stage.