THE IRON Mountain will be enticing the brave to climb it once more next June as the now-famous Abergavenny Festival of Cycling Sportif is set to play host to a number of interesting changes.

For instance, the Sportif will now be a two-day event that incorporates a couple of different routes for all manner of riders. And the other significant change to the Sportif is the dates.

Over the last two years since the Abergavenny Festival has been revived, the mass participation event has been held on the middle Saturday between the Get Connected! Welsh Open Criterium on Friday evening and the main Robert Price Grand Prix of Wales on Sunday.

Now, though, organiser Bill Owen has decided to hold the two-day Sportif at the start of the week-long Festival to kick things off with a bang.

Owen said, "It is always nice to get the visitors here in Abergavenny to ride the Grand Prix of Wales course but we thought it would be even better for people to have two days to enjoy the spectacular scenery around our beautiful county.

"We have rides for everyone over the two days. The Bronze Rides are 25 mile events on easy routes, the Silver Rides are a bit more testing over 50 miles, while the Gold Rides are 100 miles and include the big climb on Saturday."

Owen added, "These rides should suit everyone and, of course, there is no reason why riders cannot stay over in the area overnight and tackle two of the courses over the weekend."