THIS year’s Nelson Tour de Test Valley saw 900 people from across the country come to take part in its fifth road cycling sportive.

The event which raises money for male suicide prevention charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), sold out weeks earlier than normal this year and so far a fundraising figure of £30,000 has been confirmed but the final figure will be announced in two weeks time.

More than £200,000 has been raised for CALM since the event began in 2012.

Some riders had a fresh 8am start in Grateley on Saturday morning and returned on average six to seven hours later to complete the longest 160km (100 mile) trail.

Lead organiser Marcus Chapman said: “We had a really nice day with a family friendly atmosphere, people from all across the country come now as it has built up a really good reputation and become well known.

“It is the first year we have limited numbers as we do not want it to get bigger as it is a safe, controlled event.”

“Next year we’re going to keep it exactly the same, people come and camp on Friday night and we have really good breakfast and food for everyone which is really important to us- Nelson loved his food.”

The event was founded in memory of local resident and cyclist Nelson Pratt who’s first 100-mile route and favourite ever ride was through the Test Valley.

Mr Chapman said the fundraiser goes towards paying for one seat in CALM’s Helpline to run 365 days a year, which costs around £60,000.

He said: “One seat answers about 8,000 calls a year, and last month alone it was equated that through taking calls, text messages and the like one seat saved 87 lives so it has quite an impact.”

To find out more about the event visit nelsonstourdetestvalley.co.uk or about CALM visit thecalmzone.net.