World's cycling stars are heading to the Scottish Borders

Some of the biggest stars in the world of cycling are heading to the Scottish Borders.

The opening stage of the Tour of Britain men's race takes place within the region on Tuesday.

The 182km (113 mile) route starts and finishes in Kelso, passing through Coldstream, Gordon, Melrose, Denholm, Jedburgh and St Boswells.

It is the 10th time in 15 years that the area has held a stage start or finish in the race.

Among those expected to take to the starting line are gold medallist from Paris, Tom Pidcock.

He retained his Olympic cross-country mountain biking title in the summer in spectacular fashion sweeping into the lead in breathtaking style very late in the race.

He was the first rider to be announced for the INEOS Grenadiers team for the event.

"The Tour of Britain is a really special race for me," he said.

"Returning to the UK after a such busy year of racing and to pin on numbers in front of the passionate home fans, always provides great motivation."

Another huge name in cycling set to participate is double Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France podium finisher Remco Evenepoel.

He won both the road race and time-trial in Paris.

He also finished in the best young rider jersey and third overall at the Tour de France.

The Belgian is making his debut in the Tour of Britain and is part of a powerful Soudal Quick-Step team coming to Scotland.

Julian Alaphilippe is another famous figure in the sport who is due to participate with the same team.

He was world road race champion in back to back years in 2020 and 2021.

It is the third time the former King of the Mountains at the Tour de France has taken part in the Tour of Britain.

He lived up to his star billing back in 2018 when he sealed overall victory in the race.

Kelso lad Oscar Onley told the BBC recently that he was looking forward to a Scottish homecoming.

The 21-year-old managed a top 40 finish in the Tour de France this year for the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team.

They are coming to the Borders and Onley is set to be part of their squad.

Coach Pim Ligthart said they had "high motivation" to do well with their Scottish rider and hoped he could challenge for a strong finish in the overall classification.

"It's cool that it's coming back to Kelso," Onley said last month.

"So far, the plan is that I will be there and it will be really exciting to be back in my home town.

"Racing on home roads is always special."

The Tour of Britain most recently visited the Scottish Borders in 2022, when Cees Bol took a stage win in Duns.

Kelso has hosted the race on three previous occasions.

In 2015, Italian sprinter Elia Viviani won at nearby Floors Castle.

Then, in 2017 and 2019, stages finished on Kelso’s cobbled market square and were won by the Australian Caleb Ewan and the Italian Matteo Trentin.