The Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic enters its second decade next year in very good health indeed.
The signs are that the strongest field yet will tackle the narrow roads and lanes of East Leicestershire and Rutland, which make the race such an exacting test, on April 26.
"We have come a long way in a relatively short period of time, and certainly we have not yet seen the best," said race director Colin Clews, who has modelled the grueling 112-mile event on the famous spring classics hosted in northern Europe each year.
The race will follow the same route as in 2014, when Rapha-Condor's Tom Moses won the 10th anniversary edition in Melton town centre, while Clews is expecting an increased challenge from abroad next year.
He said: "The interest from foreign teams in being part of the race line-up in 2015 has been greater than ever before, with 10 UCI continental teams having already sought invitations, in addition to two approaches on behalf of national under-23 squads."
An additional boost for the race comes with the news that the King of the Hills competition will have a sponsor in 2015.
For several years that has not been the case, but now the Brook Whipper-in hotel in Oakham has stepped forward to support this element of the race.
Clews admits that the level of success the Classic enjoys has come as something of a surprise.
"Ten years ago we set out to organise an event which, as well as filling a gap in the domestic calendar, presented a new approach to road racing in Britain," he said.
"But I didn't envisage the popularity that the event would engender among teams, riders and the constantly growing number of followers that the race attracts each year.
"That we created a race which set a standard that many now seek to emulate, and also a character that many seek to copy, is a tribute to just how well we read what the sport in Britain wanted to see."
The county's young cyclo-cross riders found the going tough in the latest round of the National Trophy, staged at Milton Keynes 24 hours after the World Cup had scored a major success at Campbell Park.
The course was a technical test of riders' capabilities, made all the harder by cloying mud.
Welland Valley's James Garratt went into the junior race on good form but, despite making a good start, he was caught up in an early crash which wrecked his gears and left him trailing the field by the time he picked up his spare bike.
His sheer determination saw him work his way up to 24th by the finish.
Leicestershire Road Club's April Tacey claimed 11th in the under-16 girls race, one place ahead of Welland Valley's Amy Garner.
Without any ranking points to her name, Tacey started at the back of the field but, despite the large degree of running required due to the conditions, she challenged for a top-10 finish – an encouraging result as she picks up off-road experience.
Garner, who has produced some excellent West Midlands League results this year, was hampered on the first of three laps as riders tumbled around her. At one point she was forced off the course before riding to 12th.
Next up for the riders is the Midland championship at Sleaford on Tuesday.
