Entries are now open for this year’s Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge which takes place on Sunday September 11. It’s one of the Island’s biggest and most popular mass participation sports events, and regarded as one of the best single day mountain bike races in Europe. The ‘End2End’ attracts riders of all abilities including an increasing number from overseas, and this year will mark its 20th anniversary. All entries must be made at www.end2end.im which is the new official event website.

It costs ?40 to enter the full 46-mile End2End Challenge from the Point of Ayre to Port Erin, and ?30 for adults or juniors entering the half-distance Challenge which starts in St John’s. There’s also a Relay Team Challenge for teams of four riders which costs ?100 per team. The End2End, which began in 1996, covers roads, tracks and trails and while the exact route and finish location has changed slightly over the years, it has always retained the tough climbs and challenging descents which make it so popular. For many years it finished in Cregneash, but in 2015 the location was changed to Port Erin which made for a spectacular final few miles with the descent down from Bradda Head.

A staggered start was used last year to help prevent bottlenecks on narrow sections of the course, and this worked well so will be used again this year. There will be four groups setting off from the Point of Ayre at five minute intervals. The elite group of 200 riders will start first, followed by 200 more five minutes later, another 200 after a further five minutes, and the rest of the field 15 minutes after the elite start. Riders will be seeded according to their previous times in the End2End and by other relevant competitive results. Riders will be asked to submit details if they want results other than recent End2End performances to be considered. All riders will be issued with colour-coded race numbers to indicate which group they will start in.

Manx Telecom became title sponsor in 2013 as part of a three year deal, and this was recently extended until 2017. The support which the company provides is not only financial, it’s also in the form of technical and marketing expertise which helps the organisers to grow the event.

More than 1,100 riders took part in last year’s race which was won by Mountain Trax/Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team rider Ben Thomas from Surrey – he also won it in 2014. Manx riders Nick Corlett (Manx Mountain Bike Club) and Elliot Baxter (Team Bikestyle) were second and third respectively in 2015, and the women’s race was won by Cannondale UK rider Lee Craigie from Inverness, ahead of Cumbria riders Helen Jackson and Sally Ozanne.

Photo -  Ben Thomas on his way to victory in the 2015 Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge. Photo by John Sweetman.