Cycling World Champs at Glentress hailed 'huge success' - but fears voiced over plans to 'rip up' course
Last updated 14th Aug 2023
After a thrilling week of mountain bike action, which saw some of the world's best riders descend on the Tweed Valley, work's underway to get the trails at Glentress ready to reopen to the public.
But there are fears some of the UCI course - beamed to an audience of millions on TV and online - could be "ripped up" before locals get a chance to try it out.
TweedLove founder Neil Dalgleish, who has been involved in running cycling events in the area for more than a decade, claimed that would be "crazy".
"We need to keep as many of these facilities as possible," he said. "As far as I know, there is a plan to remove quite a lot of the track; and I am sure there are reasons for that.
"However, it seems crazy to have all this investment in infrastructure and then just to get rid of it."
Locals were asked to keep off the new trails ahead of Glentress hosting part of what's being described as the world's biggest cycling event. It was the first time all 13 UCI World Championships had been combined into one mega event.
But work's set to start on a new mountain bike skills area, close to where Britain saw two of its riders - Charlie Aldridge and Tom Pidcock - crowned World Champions, following their success in the under 23 and elite men’s cross-country Olympic events, respectively.
Bob MacFarlane, who was involved in the planning of the event, told Greatest Hits Radio: "We have built some really technically challenging features here; they have really pushed the world's best riders, and so there is a bit of work to do (to decide) what we can leave behind for the public.
"The great news is though, we're going to be creating a new skills area around the start, and we've got a whole network of taster trails, and also the new trails that are linking in with the forest network; so there's a lot of really exciting new trails that are going to open very shortly."
As well as Golds for Aldridge and Pidcock, Pidcock and Evie Richards also picked up a Bronze in the short track events.
Evie said: “I’m just so happy that all my friends and family are here. With the medals for Charlie, me and Tom, I really hope we can inspire the next generation.
“Because it would be great if we can keep this course and get more riders coming up in the UK. It’s really great having it here.”
Tracy Moseley - one of the most successful downhill and enduro racers of all time - is also a fan of the course, having raced in the E-MTB cross country event.
She told us: "Hopefully having venues like this we can have more major events here in the future. Fingers crossed this stays as a venue, then we can keep inspiring year on year, rather than it just being a one-off thing where we say: 'We did it really well, let's forget about it now.
"It's something I hope we continue to see, and the legacy of this lives on, and we see many more British champions in the future."
Will the young stars of the future get the chance to follow in their hero's tracks, by pedalling their way down the start/finish straight, or will it be removed?
"There's some good talk about that," Tracy added, "and I think there's some progress to realise that having events like this is really important; and it's super-important for the progress of the sport nationally."
Among many notable performances from the Scots, Peebles athlete Isla Short recorded a career best in front of her home crowd - ten years after nearly losing her life in a collision with a car, 200 metres away from the World Champs finish line.
"If we can bring some more international races into the UK and into Scotland, that would be amazing," she said. "But I always knew coming into this week it probably was a once in a lifetime event, and I never wanted to just focus on a result; and I feel like I've made the most of it, and I'm going to remember this week forever.
"In the Tweed Valley, cycling's like the national sport, and I think it's really important to bring a big race like this to somewhere where cycling is so popular. Because, for young kids, it makes their dreams tangible, seeing us in the flesh doing our thing, and I really hope they keep parts of the course in."
Many accommodation providers were fully booked as riders and spectators from as far apart as the USA and Australia turned out to catch the action at Glentress; although early reports from neighbouring towns of Peebles and Innerleithen suggest some businesses weren't as busy as they had hoped.
Gordon Moore, from Peebles Cycling Club, hopes all the coverage afforded to the event will help the Tweed Valley build on its reputation as a world-class cycling destination.
But what made the event for him? "It's seeing so many people out on a saddle cycling," he replied. "It doesn't matter what their level is; I go out and see kids that are only six, seven-year-old and upwards, all enjoying it. And, at my age, I'm still enjoying it, and I'm heading towards 70."
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