Unlike the French event, it will not be raced on cobbles. Instead, the 50-plus expected riders will have to struggle through several stretches of gravel around an 18km loop track at Outram.
Cycling Otago vice-president Chris Henderson said the race was a new addition and he hoped it would become a regular fixture during the summer months.
"We were looking for something exciting and new to go on our race programme rather than the same old, same old," he said.
"This is based on the Paris-Roubaix event that is raced [in France] on cobbles. Because we couldn't find any cobbles we thought we'd find some gravel roads."
The event has been dubbed "the Hell of the South" to mirror the Paris-Roubaix, which is often called "the Hell of the North".
The race would begin and finish on Woodside Rd and was suitable for both experienced and novice riders, Henderson said.
Experienced riders Shane Melrose, Scott Little and Joe Chapman would be competing and the mountain biking club had also been invited.
"The track is reasonably smooth and the idea is they [riders] click into a big gear and hit it hard and try and keep the bike floating across the top.
"It is a little more challenging and perhaps more taxing on the legs than riding along on the tarseal."
Racing gets under way at 1.30pm on Saturday.
