Borders saddles up for Tour of Britain

With some of cycling’s biggest names set to take part, the region will be put in the spotlight, with the stage being covered live on ITV4.

The 195km stage seven will start in Hawick town centre before heading for the Ettrick Valley, via Roberton. The riders will climb up to Berrybush, where King of the Mountain points will be on offer, then race on to Mountbenger in the Yarrow Valley.

Continuing north, the riders will head to Innerleithen before tackling the hills of ‘The Granites’ road, before cutting east to Heriot and racing down the A7 to Stow.

More King of the Mountain points will be available as the race climbs out of Stow towards Lauder and then races into Duns via Westruther. There is then more climbing as the riders head through Ellemford and Cranshaws to another King of the Mountains point at Wanside Rig.

The race will then drop down into East Lothian before a sprint for the finish line in Edinburgh city centre.

Detailed routes and timetables for the Tour of Britain stages can now be found by visiting www.tourofbritain.co.uk/stages, while more information for spectators will be announced in the coming weeks.

Councillor Mark Rowley, Scottish Borders Council’s executive member for economic regeneration and finance, said: “An extremely exciting route has been developed once again and will showcase the outstanding cycling offer that we have here in the Borders.

“Wherever you are in the region you won’t be far away from the route, and hopefully that will mean we have great crowds out to support some of the world’s top professional cyclists, Covid-restrictions permitting.

“Attracting events of this magnitude to the Borders brings very real benefits to the area, not only on the day itself but longer term, and I am particularly pleased the Hawick community has embraced this opportunity and has developed a Festival of Cycling with a wide ranging programme of events and activities around the Tour of Britain’s visit.”

The race will go ahead subject to local conditions and in line with relevant national guidelines and governing body protocols.

Further details of the event and the Festival of Cycling will be available on at www.scotborders.gov.uk/tourofbritain in due course.

The Borders has a proud history of hosting the Tour of Britain, most recently in 2019 when a full stage was held entirely within the Scottish Borders, with the stage start and finish in Kelso town centre.

Once again ITV4 will screen live coverage of every stage, along with highlights every evening, with many broadcasters from around the world also showing coverage.

Scottish Borders Council is working closely with event organisers SweetSpot and EventScotland to ensure that the event can take place safely.​​​​​​​