The 20th edition of the IronBike mountain bike event has been announced, and looks set to be more of a challenge than ever before.
The endurance race will pass through spectacular Italian Alpine landscapes, over a route expected to involve more than 700km of riding and a gruelling 27,000m of climbing.
Beginning in Limone Piedmont and finishing nine days later at Sauze d'Oulx, the final route will not be unveiled until the evening before the race, but organisers claim to have made the ride tougher than ever, with the first stage of the race even including a helicopter uplift!
If you're a super-fit mountain biker and think you're up to the challenge, you can sign up at www.ironbike.it. Entries are limited to just 120 places so be sure to move fast in order to avoid disappointment.
Getting in shape
Once you've registered for IronBike 2013, you'll need to start thinking about preparing for the event. BikeRadar Training is designed to help you prepare for charity events just like this one, so we've created a specific group for IronBike 2013. You can sign up for free and get in touch with other riders taking part, as well as sharing training tips and monitoring your progress.
BikeRadar Training is a free online resource for you to record and analyse all aspects of your training, log your training routes, get yourself tailored training plans, see how you're doing on our leaderboards, set goals and plan your season with a comprehensive events guide.
