Kelso Kelso

Though Scottish fans north of the Central Belt often complain that the Tour of Britain never visits their part of the world – largely due to the logistics of transfers – fans in the Borders have been regularly spoiled with stage starts and finishes. This year, for the first time, an entire stage will be raced within the region, starting and finishing in the historic town of Kelso, where Caleb Ewan won stage one in 2017. Featuring three KoM climbs and three intermediate sprints, the anti-clockwise loop will take in Coldstream, Chirnside, Duns, Scott’s View, Melrose and the Eildon Hills before a fast run back alongside the River Tweed to a finish on cobbles. It’s the second shortest non-time-trial stage of the race – the final stage, which starts in Altrincham, is 1.5km shorter – which is itself the shortest edition since 2011, at 1250km in total.

Director’s notes

Andy Hawes: We have an excellent relationship with the Scottish Borders and they jumped at the chance to have an entire stage in their region. We have previously had stage starts in Peebles and finishes in Kelso, but this allowed us to go to parts of the Borders we haven’t been to before. We found a couple of excellent climbs we haven’t used before, including the climb up Hardens Hill, which is a bit of a brute for the first KoM of the stage. Then a very quick descent down into Duns and we have a sprint outside the newly refurbished Jim Clark Motorsport Museum. The route of the Tour isn’t just about cycling, it’s about promoting stuff within the different regions, which is what makes us so attractive to local authorities.