MORE than 2,000 road cyclists will arrive in the region this weekend for the annual ‘Tour O The Borders’ cycle sportive.

The event will start early on Sunday morning from Tweed Bridge in Peebles.

Riders from all over the UK have signed up to cover the 120km closed road route.

The event raises money for many charities, but has partnered this year with Kidney Research UK.

Director Neil Dalgleish said: “The Tour is one of the crown jewels of cycling in the Borders.

“The area is still largely an undiscovered paradise for road cycling, with miles of quiet roads and stunning scenery. People are blown away by it and many come back several times a year to ride here after riding in ‘The Touro’. The Tweed Valley is now on the world map for mountain biking, but it deserves a similar status for its road cycling.”

Although events like this now have the green light to go ahead, the Peebles-based organisers have a number of COVID measures in place.

Mr Dalgleish said: “We want everyone moving through the event as smoothly and efficiently as possible, so we’ve set things up accordingly. The riders are a responsible bunch so we expect them to look after themselves, and each other, as usual."

The event hub will be on Tweed Green and is open to everyone – with coffee stands, pizzas, burritos and ice cream.

Mr Dalgleish added: “It’s two years since we were all able to celebrate our love of cycling in the Borders together – we can’t wait to welcome everyone and it’s sure to be a very positive atmosphere. We hope everyone around the route will come out and give the riders the warm welcome we’re becoming famous for.”