As the Enduro Mountain Biking World Series drew to a close in Italy at the weekend, Scotland’s Glentress Tweed Valley is now preparing to welcome the event for the first time in 2014, as part of the Tweedlove Mountain Biking Festival.

The globetrotting event, which has proved a massive success amongst the mountain biking community, has taken in some of the most popular off-road venues in the world, including the French Alps and Whistler resort in Canada.  The new event combines both the downhill and cross-country aspects of mountain biking, in a series of time-trialled stages – something which the sport has been sorely lacking in the past.

Next year, the Scottish Borders' Tweed Valley will join this roster of venues, putting Scotland on the map as a world class mountain biking destination.  The event takes place on 31 May and 1 June 2014, as a key part of the Tweedlove Bike Festival. The fortnight of events, which is taking place for the fifth time next year, spans everything from pro-racing and family rides, to coaching sessions with top instructors, as well as the second leg of next year’s Enduro series.

The addition of the Enduro World Series to the Tweedlove programme is expected to increase the festival’s economic impact on the local economy.  It was estimated that last year’s Tweedlove festival brought £700,000 into the area, but this is expected to rise to £1.25m in 2014.

Neil Dalgleish, founder of Tweedlove, spoke of his excitement in bringing the event to the Tweed Valley next year: “The inaugural Enduro World Series has proved a massive success this year and we are extremely excited to be hosting the event next year.  The feedback from the mountain biking community has been extremely positive, so we are looking forward to welcoming the world’s top race to the Tweed Valley in 2014.

“Enduro will be a big highlight of Tweedlove next year. From humble beginnings, we have grown year on year, and the 2014 programme will be bigger and better than ever before.  As well as bringing the world’s top mountain bikers to the festival, we are also expecting Enduro to have an extremely positive impact on the region’s economy.

“Bringing Enduro to Tweedlove next year – alongside next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William – will mean the eyes of the world will be on Scotland, which can only help raise the country’s profile as a top mountain biking destination.”

The Enduro World Series was put together by Scots-based Chris Ball, former mountain bike champion and technical delegate with the world governing body, the UCI.

Mountain bikers from across the world competed at this year's event, including competitors from Scotland and the rest of the UK.  The women's event was won by Tracey Moseley, of Worcester, who accumulated 4,000 points over the seven stages. The men's event was won by Jérôme Clementz of France, with 3,640 points, while the junior title went to Martin Maes of Belgium, with 4,100 points.

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For further information please contact: Craig MacLellan craig.maclellan@porternovelli.co.uk