CYCLISTS from Furness chosen to represent Great Britain at a world championship event are racing in memory of their late teammate.

Sam and Tom Stephenson, from Barrow, Tom Martin, from Kirkby, and Christina Wiejak, from Rampside, have been selected by British Cycling to represent Great Britain at the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championship.

The event will take place at Haderslev in Denmark on Saturday September 17.

The race will be a tough 75-mile off-road course with approximately 5,000 feet of climbing against 150 of the world’s best riders.

The GB squad includes two brothers from Barrow, Sam and Tom, who are in their first year of competing in the sport.

The ex-UVHS pupils, who both currently work within BAE Systems in Barrow, are members of the Lakes Road Club and train extensively in the Lakes and Furness area.

They will line up alongside two other local riders; Tom Martin, who currently rides professionally in Spain for road cycling team Brocar-ale and Christina Wiejak, who rides for UK-based team Saint Piran Women and also works at Leisure Lakes in Ulverston.

The race is expected to be broadcast live on TV via subscription service GCN+ and live streamed on YouTube.

In a post published online, Sam said he and Tom will be racing in memory of their late teammate Rab Wardell who was due to compete in Denmark alongside the team before his tragic death last month.

Rab died at the age of 37 on August 23, just days after competing at, and winning, the Scottish MTB XC Championships.

Scottish Cycling confirmed that Wardell had died in his sleep.

Wardell’s partner, the track cyclist Katie Archibald, tweeted that he had suffered a “cardiac arrest”.

Wardell won the elite men’s title at Kirroughtree Forest in Dumfries & Galloway in August, overcoming several punctures to win on the final lap. His victory was described as a “show of incredible resilience” by British Cycling.