Heavy rain dominated the first round in Rotorua last month and although Saturday’s precipitation was reasonably light, the ominous forecast for Sunday is 100 per cent chance of thunderstorms.

Whatever the weather, the 300-strong elite riders from more than 20 countries are scheduled to head off from 8am and will tackle seven stages featuring 56 competitive kilometres linked by 1700 metres of climbing.

Series leader Wyn Masters was enjoying experiencing the inaugural Australian round of the EWS and sharing Derby with his 114,000 Instagram followers.

“When it was first announced, I’d say most people would not have known where or what Derby is and would have had to do a bit of research,” said the New Zealander who turns 30 later this month and won this year’s opening round on home soil.

“I think tourism within mountain biking is growing every year and places like New Zealand and Tasmania that make the most of their landscape can do really well.

“New Zealand already has, but Tasmania is catching up. I like Tasmania, it’s similar to New Zealand in its landscape and good things to do outdoors.

“I’ve heard there are plenty of other places to ride here and just looking at the landscape you can see there is potential to build more.”

At the opposite end of the experience spectrum, Winnaleah teenager Miles Smith was equally excited after finishing sixth in the under-21 section of the Challenge Tasmania Race which offered novice riders the chance to race on four of the EWS trails.

“It was crazy,” he said. “I’ve ridden most of them before but they are so rad. There was a lot off camber, drop-offs, jumps - awesome.”

Several other Tasmanian riders will take part in Sunday’s elite race and were not deterred by the gloomy forecasts.

“It’s pretty dusty so it will probably do good things and shouldn’t cause too much carnage,” Longford’s Ewan Ferrier said.

Stephen Matthews, of Launceston, added: “Some of the stages have been dusty with holes starting to develop so we’ll see what the rain brings.”

Hobart’s Edwina Hughes said the whole event was a learning experience.

“It’s a lot more technical than I was expecting which is excellent,” she said.

“The trails are unlike any other and they elevate your riding.

“It’s mind-blowing to have this and from what I’ve heard everyone is loving it.

“My goal is to stay on the bike and not crash.”