Tour O The Borders sportive faces cancellation after residents complain about event’s road closures

September’s tenth edition of the Tour O The Borders, the popular cycle sportive that attracts thousands of cyclists each year to Peeblesshire, may prove the final one, after the local council decided to call a halt to running the event on closed roads in 2024 following a request from a group of unhappy residents.

The 2023 Tour O The Borders will still go ahead as planned on 3 September, using a partly new 120km route designed to by-pass the area at the centre of the controversy, Ettrick and Yarrow, but the long-term future of the event is now extremely uncertain, the organisers announced today.

Scotland’s only closed-road sportive outside the Highlands, and the Scottish Borders’ biggest mass-participation sports event, the Tour O The Borders was first held in 2012 – before moving to a closed-road setup two years later – attracting 2,000 participants from across the UK keen to tackle the area’s scenic and challenging hills in traffic-free conditions.

However, the event has also been the centre of protests by locals unhappy at the inconvenience caused by the day of road closures.

> Farmer who stopped Borders sportive says the event is "a waste of police time"

At the 2017 edition, two men were charged after a number of cyclists taking part said they were confronted by a small group of protesters – believed to be angry at the closure of the roads during harvest season – who allegedly blocked the road and hit some riders with sticks.

A farmer at the centre of the protest told a newspaper that motorists are “held up every day of the year” by cyclists and that he believed that the road closures for the sportive were an added insult.

“We’ve been getting more and more abuse from them when we’re just trying to go about our daily lives, and for the cyclists to suddenly shut off the road is a bit of an indignity as they get the police to monitor the event and it’s basically a waste of police time,” John Marshall said at the time.

Though the charges against the farmers were eventually dropped, the event’s director Neil Dalgleish said the protesters had “learned their lesson” and that the lack of prosecution should not be seen as a “green light for violence towards cyclists”.

> Tour o' the Borders organiser says decision to drop charges against 'stick-gate' farmers not a "green light" to attack cyclists

However, this year it appears that a community group has succeeded in potentially bringing down the shutters on the Tour O The Borders, with the Scottish Borders Council deciding that the current route cannot be staged on closed roads in 2024.

Hillside Outside, the organisers of the Peebles-based event, have claimed that the council’s decision follows a consultation with Ettrick and Yarrow Community Council.

“We’ve been aware of event-related inconvenience issues in this area for several years, so of course we asked to be part of this new consultation,” the organisers said today. “We also asked for a new working group to be formed to address the issues, but both these requests were unsuccessful.”

Hillside Outside also claimed that the opposition to the event appears to stem from a vocal minority and that recent local surveys carried out by the council have found that 87 percent of respondents were either “supportive or very supportive” of the Tour O The Borders taking place, compared to just under 12 percent who were not supportive.

(Credit: Richard Turley)

According to the organisers, Scottish Borders Council has said that a closed-road event could be held in 2024 and beyond in another area, though Hillside Outside has noted that “it’s proved impossible for anyone to find a suitable, workable alternative route” and that “moving the whole event to another town as the council hoped is not possible either” due to accommodation issues.

“Obviously it’s a big disappointment,” Dalgleish said in a statement today. “This event has played a huge part in putting the South of Scotland on the map as a quality road cycling destination, and it brings a lot of revenue to the region.

“The decision seems out of balance to us – the roads are re-opened as soon as the event has passed through, so it’s only a few hours of road closures once a year.

“We appreciate that any road closure can cause inconvenience, and we constantly review the event with that in mind. We’ve already moved the route twice and changed the date twice to mitigate any problems caused.”

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A statement on the event’s website continued: “We understand SBC want to keep all communities happy, but in the real world it’s a hard challenge.

“Some people in Ettrick and Yarrow may be pleased with this outcome, but for us the reality is actual job losses and a threat to our entire events programme. For local hotels and tourism businesses around the area it also means loss of income – not only for the event weekend, but for the repeat or pre-event visits we know many riders make.

“Remember, we’re talking about a few hours of road closures, once a year, for an event that generates millions of pounds in visitor income and has done much to put the Scottish Borders on the road cycling map.”

One regular participant added: “It seems ridiculous that in a year when Scotland is hosting the Cycling World Championships and presenting itself as a cycling nation, that a successful home-grown event like this should be told it’s being shut down. Scotland needs more safe cycling – not less.”

Dalgleish concluded: “This year’s event will be a bittersweet experience as the route is the best ever, and in my opinion there’s more need than ever for closed road events to encourage people into cycling. Given a decent day it will be an absolute joy.”

Scottish Borders Council has been contacted for comment.