These mountain bikers took to the sand dunes on Thursday as part of stage five of the 13th edition of the Titan Desert 2018 mountain bike race in Morocco.

The Titan Desert 2018, which was held from April 29 to yesterday, is a 600km-long mountain bike race, snaking between Boumalne Dades, at the foot of the High Atlas summits in central Morocco, and Erfoud, an oasis town in the Sahara Desert in the eastern part of the country.

Not only do the cyclists have to overcome the harsh desert conditions, they must also have a keen sense of orientation and endurance to last the distance.

This year, 612 cyclists representing 22 nations took part in the gruelling competition, with more than 70 women participating, the Los Angeles Times reported.