The votes are in, the counting has stopped and we have a pair of winners in our big Merida TransWales Mixed team giveaway competition. After each pair had had their say, two weeks of public voting decided the winners. The votes came in by their hundreds and the competition remained very close right until the end.

Usually there can only be one winner, although obviously in this case there are two. And they are John Underwood and Barbara Conrad-Underwood! John and Barbara scored 33% of the vote, with Fi Spotswood and Gary Bridgeman second (28%) and Jules Toone and Oli Cox in third (25%).

Commiserations to our runners-up (especially Fi and Gary, who looked like they had it in the bag until the last couple of days), but for second and third places there are consolation prizes of considerably discounts from the TransWales entry fee. So we hope that we’ll see at least Fi and Gary and Jules and Oli on the line at Builth Wells.

But for John and Barbara it’s the full enchilada – a completely free mixed-team entry for the inaugural TransWales seven-day stage race, including ride entry, free breakfast, lunch and dinner, free usage of service stations, free luggage and tent transport from location to location, finishing jersey, free map and course material, free usage of facilities, free camping at all stage locations starting with Saturday night at the White House Farm in Builth and finishing with the following Saturday night at the same location, free parking for the week (at your own risk) and mega event goodie holdall (worth up to £150) which will travel with you for the whole duration. We’re sure that they’re looking forward to it as much as we are.

As well as the Bikemagic Men (Mike and Dave) and Mixed (John and Barbara) teams, there’s also a SheCycles.com women’s team. We were recruiting for a team-mate for SheCycles Clinic contributor Dr Kim Hurst. She’s proper fast, so was looking for a proper fast team-mate. And we’ve found one – Kim will be joined by endurance and adventure race expert Heather Dawe, who races for JD Cycles and Team Marie Curie. Her impressive CV includes winning the Polaris Challenge eight times and competing in the Transalp three times, so she’s no stranger to the multi-day event. We reckon that Heather and Kim will make a formidable team.

Thanks to everyone who entered and all of those who voted. Now all that remains is the race itself…