RAINBOWS, NOT RAIN

Cycling gets serious next summer, the UCI is combining 13 World Championship disciplines into a two-week party in Scotland, with Glentress bagging the XCO racing

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We've grown used to the Tweed Valley hosting some pretty sizeable events over the years, but in 2023 it's W going to get a whole lot bigger when the World Championships comes to town. For the first time, Glentress will host the biggest race in XC as part of the combined UCI Cycling World Championships, where the big idea is to bring together 13 UCI-accredited disciplines in one location: Scotland.

The 2023 Worlds will be fought out in multiple locations across the country in an 11-day long festival, with thousands of athletes battling for the rainbow jerseys in those two weeks of racing. It means cycling has finally got its act together, and the combined programme will be one of world's top 10 sporting events, organizers reckon, with a million spectators turning up to watch, and a billion watching it on TV.

"We know Glentress hasn't had an event of this size and scale before," Trudy Lindblade 2023 Worlds CEO told us. "But the work it's done with the EWS and the support from Scottish Borders Council and South of Scotland Enterprise are contributing to why we went to Glentress. And all the work that's gone into that area for mountain biking, and the terrain itself, means we can do a really great technical course that athletes can be truly tested on."

This is a sizeable move for Glentress, a location most of us probably think of as a trail centre, albeit an excellent one and part of the famous 7Stanes. It marks a pretty big step up in status. It's also a big opportunity for mountain biking to grow a billion viewers aren't going to tune in for the XC race alone of course, but there'll be many thousands who will get excited by our sport, seeing it for the first time. Remember London 2012? British Cycling reckoned 100,000 more people became regular road riders after watching those Olympic Games.