Four time winner Nick Craig and his son Tom have both signed up for this year’s Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge. Nick, who rides for Scott UK and won the End2End in consecutive years from 2008 to 2011, is a former Olympian and a multiple winner of British national titles. In January this year he won the Veterans Over-40s category at the British Cyclo-Cross Championships on the same day as his son Tom won the Under-16 Boys race. Tom won the under-16s race in last year’s End2End which was the first time he had competed in the event. Under-16 riders race to St Johns which is approximately half of the full 46-mile race distance. The Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge online entry list states that Tom will be competing for Microgaming in this year’s race.
Voirrey Barron, Manx Telecom Marketing Communications Manager, commented:
“It’s great news that Nick and Tom have signed up for this year’s race. We’ve seen some great battles between Nick Craig and Elliot Baxter in recent years and I’m sure they will be among the front runners this time. The quality of the field is getting better each year and there’s still time for the Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge to attract a few more elite competitors and riders just aiming to complete the course as a personal challenge, or to raise money for charity.”
Entries opened on March 1 and there are already more than 1,500 on the start list. With the event being limited to a maximum of 1,700 riders it’s expected that the race will be full very soon, so anyone who wants to book their place for the race on September 8 is advised to enter online at www.manxe2e.org as soon as possible.
This is the first year of Manx Telecom’s sponsorship of the ever popular End2End mountain bike race. The Island’s premier telecoms company announced a three year deal beginning with the 2013 event. The race will be run on the same Point of Ayre to Cregneash course as in recent years. Among the 1,700 competitors each year there are always stories of riders overcoming personal challenges just to complete the course. For many of them finishing the End2End, or maybe just making it to the start line, represents the culmination of a long struggle to overcome hardship, injury or illness - or to raise funds for a charity that is close to their heart. It’s a rider who falls into one of these categories who will win a prize being introduced by the new sponsors - The Manx Telecom Merit Award.
The End2End is the latest major event to be backed by Manx Telecom and follows the company’s announcement in 2012 of a three year deal to sponsor the Parish Walk. The End2End is not the company’s first cycling sponsorship - since 2008 it has backed the Manx Road Club which competes as Team Manx Telecom.
- Ends -
