Rise Above, the official sportive of Mark Cavendish, will come to Cheltenham this summer with three new and exciting routes starting and finishing from the racecourse and heading into the Cotswolds.

Taking place on Sunday 5th August, the third edition of the 30-time Tour de France stage winner’s sportive, which has previously been held in Chester, will provide a challenging test for all riders, similar to those challenges professional riders face every time they race.

Cavendish will once again be the official starter of the sportive, before taking to the roads to complete one of the rides that he has helped create.

The event will build upon the success of the inaugural Cheltenham Festival of Cycling last September, when a stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycle race finished in the town.

Tracey Crews, director of planning, Cheltenham Borough Council said: “We are pleased to be able to support this event coming to the town which forms part of the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling 2018.

“Following our support of last year’s Tour of Britain event, we want to build on our reputation as a cycling friendly destination. We are working with our partners towards a vision which will enable us to reach wider audiences and create strong communities where people thrive now and in the future. Increased cycling is an important part of defining how we would like Cheltenham to be.”

Cavendish added: “I’m very excited to announce the return of my Rise Above Sportive. We have been working on the return of the event for some time and I am looking forward to taking the Sportive to the beautiful roads of the Cotswolds.

“The three routes will be really special and testing for any level of rider so there is a great opportunity for people of all abilities to take part and join me. I hope to see you there after the Tour de France.”

The three circular routes on offer are:

• Enthusiast – 50 kilometres with 697m elevation gain
• Purist – 105km with 1,388m of elevation gain
• Extremist – 153km with 1,845m of elevation gain
Starting and finishing at Cheltenham Racecourse, all three routes will tackle the arduous Cleeve Hill, which featured in last year’s OVO Energy Tour of Britain race, and features sections that reach a 25 per cent gradient.

Riders who sign up for the two longer distances will also test themselves on the energy-sapping Snowshill climb, a three-kilometre ascent that gradually increases in severity, which will be a part of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in June, as well as having previously featured in the men’s Tour.

Places for the 2018 Sportive went on general sale on Wednesday 2nd May via the Rise Above Sportive website (www.riseabovesportive.com).