THREE local mountain bike riders will represent Great Britain in a Cycling World Championships event.

Tom Martin, 24, from Kirkby-in-Furness, Tom Stephenson, from Barrow and Christina Wiejak, from Rampside, have all been selected to race in the Mountain Bike Cross Country Marathon event at the 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships.

The 62-mile arduous race will take place at Glentress Forest near Peebles in Scotland on August 6.

Riders will be challenged by the course being almost all off-road and by needing to climb in addition of 10,000 ft over open moorland. They will also be faced by descending steep, twisty singletrack trails through local forests.

Tom Martin said: “It’s a massive privilege to be able to race for GB in a home World Championships.

“It’s a huge personal achievement for me. There are not many people that get the chance to do something like that.

“I’ve got to be realistic. We’re effectively amateurs racing against full-time athletes so I’m probably not going to win but it’s a good accomplishment to finish and have a nice ride. I want to show the jersey off as best as I can.”

The 24-year-old works full-time at BAE Systems in Barrow now but is no stranger to racing on an international stage.

For three years he was a full-time rider for a Spanish cycling racing team competing in predominantly road races but unfortunately because of the COVID-19 pandemic he didn’t have many opportunities.

He added: “A few years ago I tried to make a career out of cycling. If I get the opportunity through sponsorships then I’d give it another go but at the moment I’m just working on things race-by-race."

Tom has won road cycling races in the UK previously and represented Great Britain at the World Championships in Denmark last year finishing 90th - but feels he is better prepared now.

He explained: “I had been doing a full road season in Spain and it was the last race of the season on a mountain bike so I was pretty fatigued and dissatisfied with my performance.

“I definitely feel like I’m more prepared this time around because this year I have prepared more specifically for mountain bike racing.

“It’s hard combining racing internationally with full-time work but it’s definitely doable.”

The event, which takes place between August 3-11, is the biggest sporting competition in the UK this year with over 8000 athletes taking part at different locations in over 200 different events including Road & Track racing, BMW and Paralympic disciplines.