A bridge too far

With barely a month to go until the start of the self-styled "toughest mountain bike race in the world", some big names are lining up to take a crack at notorious Costa Rican stage race La Ruta de los Conquistadores. It's hard to find anyone who's done every single one of the really, really hard races in the world, so whether La Ruta really is the toughest is hard to establish, but certainly the numbers - four days, 377km (234 miles), 14,000m (46,000ft) of climbing - are fairly daunting. Add in unpredictable weather, often-ludicrous steepness, trails that aren't exactly "all-weather" and of course the legendary not-entirely-there bridge crossings and you've got something potentially quite unpleasant on your hands.

There're plenty of people stepping up to the plate, though, with most places filled. Local racers used to dominate La Ruta, but more and more internationally-known riders are making the trip. For the 2008 race (12-15 November), MTBers like top marathon racer Thomas Dietsch and TransRockies winners Marzio Deho and Johnny Cattaneo will be joined by road racers Svein Tuft (UCI TT World Championships silver medallist) and Spanish climbing specialist Roberto Heras.

The man to beat, though, is still local hero and defending champion Federico Ramirez, still - splendidly - sponsored by Pizza Hut. He's won La Ruta four times, pretty impressive considering some of the riders who he's been up against in the past.

Find out more at www.adventurerace.com.