The Tour o’ the Borders, which included a 76 or 55 mile circuit, started in Peebles early and finished in Kailzie on Sunday.

It is the first year that a cycling event in the Borders has taken part on closed roads.

The route passed through Cardrona, Selkirk, Clovenfords and Roberton, and attracted riders from as far away as Australia and America.

The Tour is backed by both Scottish Borders Council and EventScotland and has grown rapidly - from 286 riders in 2012 to the mass participation event this year.

And now organisers - TweedLove founder Neil Dalgleish and bike shop owner John Anderson - are planning to make next year’s event bigger yet.

With many hotels and guest houses booked up for the weekend, Neil, who revealed the event was estimated to generate up to half a million pound for the local economy, said: “People want to come and ride these roads because it’s a special area and we can increase the numbers safely with a closed road event - and it could get bigger.

“The majority of people haven’t ridden them before but it’s an incredible area for cycling - one of the UK’s top destinations. Sportives are great events because they are very inclusive, there are all shapes and sizes, many of the people taking part will remember the event for the rest of their life.” And he added: “The long term impact is more people come here to ride their bikes. They don’t just stay in Peebles, they stay in other wee places all around.” With weather forecasters predicting that the remnants of Hurricane Bertha were due to hit the UK on Sunday, it had been feared the event could be a wash out.

But rain failed to dampen the spirits of competitors, who last year had to brave flooded roads out on the course.

Among those taking part this year were Team Scotland cyclists Jamie McCullum and Anne Ewing - just a week after representing their country at the Commonwealth Games.

And they were welcomed home by cycling commentator Alan Anderson, who commentated at the Games in Glasgow.

Anne said: “The turnout was phenomenal, Jamie and I started quite far back so it was amazing coming through the groups, We were in wave 10 or 11.

“I have never seen so many people on bikes in one place in Scotland, to get this turnout on a day like this was great. Having closed roads makes it that bit safer and more accessible to everybody.” And Jamie added: “This is my first and possibly my last sportive. It was great, really well organised and safe, the turnout has been pretty impressive.” More than 100 riders pledged to raise upwards of £25,000 in sponsorship by completing the challenging course.

John, who revealed he got the idea for the cycling sportive during a training run to test his fitness at New Year, praised the volunteers for helping to make the event a success.

He said: “There’s nowhere else in Britain that compares to the Borders for the excellence of overall cycling. We have Glentress, Innerleithen, the road element with this event and TweedLove.

“Next year we should get up to 3,000 riders or more.”