Cycle Epic to host Australian MTB Marathon Championship

The first ever Australian MTB Marathon Championship will be held in September this year as part of the Flight Centre Cycle Epic to be held near Toowoomba in South East Queensland. In an Australian first for the sport of mountain biking, the nation's peak mountain biking body, Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA), endorsed the Flight Centre Cycle Epic as the inaugural 2006 Australian MTB Marathon Championship.

MTBA Executive Officer, Tony Scott, said, "The Epic has a great history and the winners will certainly be deserving recipients of the title of Australian Marathon Champion."

"Since the event began in 2003 it has grown into one of the largest mountain bike events in the Asia Pacific region," promoter Peter Creagh said."It's regarded as one of the toughest single endurance events on the cycling calendar making it the ideal event for first Australian MTB marathon Championship."

Riders from across Australia will tackle a gruelling 106km point-to-point marathon which traverses the National Bicentennial Trail from Preston (Toowoomba) to Grandchester September 2nd and 3rd.

The event will be run under UCI sanction. For more information visit www.cycleepic.com.au.