Mountain bike enthusiasts started arriving in Lochaber on Monday morning for the biggest event in the sport ever to be staged in the UK.

The UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships is taking place on the slopes of Aonach Mor near Fort William and is expected to attract over 40,000 spectators.

They will be joined by 300 media representatives to report on the 700 entrants from 49 nations competing in the four mountain bike disciplines of cross country, downhill, 4-cross and trials for a total of 19 World Championship titles.

Monday was being be devoted to cross country (XC) training but 13.30 Tuesday afternoon sees the start of competitions with the XC Team relay World championships followed by the Team Relay - Awards Ceremony at 16.05.

Then it's the official opening ceremony of the championships in Fort William at 18.00-19.00.

The event finishes on Sunday with the downhill and trials elite championships. It is expected to £2m for the local economy.

New research carried out on behalf of VisitScotland has revealed that mountain biking brings an estimated £39 million to Scotland annually, with more than 100,000 visitors each year enjoying the pursuit as part of their holiday in Scotland.

Philip Riddle, VisitScotland's Chief Executive said it underlined Scotland's international renown for outdoor activity: "Scotland is Europe's adventure capital and mountain biking is one of our biggest success stories, attracting visitors from the UK and around the world and bringing revenue into many rural areas around Scotland.

"The profile that this event will give Scotland, along with our on-going programme of adventure sports marketing will help to draw even more visitors to Scotland."