Details of Scottish stages of Tour of Britain announced

The Tour of Britain is a key part of EventScotland’s annual portfolio of world-class events and we are delighted to be working in partnership with SweetSpot and local partners including Scottish Borders Council, Edinburgh City Council, Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council, to bring the final two stages of the race to Scotland this year.

Events play a key role in our communities and our partnership with the Tour of Britain is the ideal platform to showcase the many wonderful regions of Scotland as well as the more than 2,000 miles of National Cycle Network covering the country that visitors can come and enjoy.

An extremely exciting route has been developed once again and will showcase the outstanding cycling offer that we have here in the Scottish Borders.

Attracting events of this magnitude to the Scottish 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 wide ranging programme of events around the Tour of Britain’s visit.

We are delighted that we will see the return of the UK’s most prestigious cycling race to our city in September.

This year Edinburgh will host its first finish at Holyrood Park. The Capital’s winding and cobbled streets will offer a challenging, and of course, picturesque finale to this stage of the race. It will be an exciting return and a highlight of 2021 as keen enthusiasts, Olympians, world and Tour de France champions from all over the world come to our exceptional city.

The route announcement of the final stage of the Tour of Britain is something we have long waited for and feels incredibly significant for our region. Seeing the teams line up in Stonehaven and then taking on some of our spectacular climbs and sprint stretches will be exciting. The eyes of the world will be on us.

I am aware that the team are working hard behind the scenes to make sure that this event can go ahead as safely as possible, and I want to reassure our communities that everything is being done to ensure we are delivering this race in line with regulations and safety measures.

We welcome today’s announcement, which many people have eagerly been waiting for. We look forward to hosting the Tour of Britain in Aberdeen in September and enjoying the many positive impacts at a regional level for tourism, health and wellbeing.

This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the North-east, one that signals our ambition as a council to build momentum around our post-Covid economic recovery plans. Officers are continuing to work with race organisers, partners and stakeholders to ensure that we take this opportunity to celebrate all that our city region has to offer.

This year’s Tour of Britain route is truly spectacular, covering a greater geographical area than we’ve ever done before while also ticking off several things we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Be it visiting Cornwall and Aberdeenshire, hosting stage finishes on the summit of Great Orme and in the shadow of the Angel of the North, reintroducing a team time trial and visiting noteworthy and historic host venues new and old, I have a feeling that this year’s race will be one for the ages. There are still fantastic opportunities for partners to get involved in the event, so why not join us and be a part of what will be an unforgettable week and a fantastic celebration of Britain and cycling!