THE world’s best mountain bikers will be watched by a sell out crowd of 5,000 fans at the Hadleigh Farm International on Sunday.

A quality line-up has been assembled to test out the course which will also be staging the Olympic Games next summer.

And Martyn Salt, the mountain bike manager for the Games’ organising committee, is thrilled the south east Essex public have shown such enthusiasm for the event.

“The tickets have now all sold out and most of them were sold in Essex which is fantastic,” said Salt.

“This has shown how enthusiastic people are about the Olympics in this area and it’s a brilliant course too.

“Families will be able to come along with a picnic and watch some top quality sport and you don’t often get opportunities like that.

“The view here is also fantastic as you can see right across to Canary Wharf but it will be tough for the riders, so it should make for some entertaining races too.”

The women’s event, which features current World Cup series leader Julie Bresset, world number one Catharine Pendrel and the reigning Olympic champion Sabine Spitz, starts at 11am with the men in action at 2pm.

Taking part in that race will be two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon, current world number one Jaroslav Kulhavy and Adrien Niyonshuti who will become the first Rwandan Mountain Bike rider to ever compete at the Olympics.

In total, 25 countries from across five continents will be taking part and their participation should make for an intriguing tussle.

FULL STORY IN WEDNESDAY'S ECHO