← All eventsTour O The Borders
120km / 74mi closed-road sportive in the Scottish Borders. ~1,200m climbing. Devil's Beeftub, Paddy Slacks, Talla/Megget moorland traverse. Fully closed roads (rare for UK). Short route 88.8km / 940m. 16 km/h min speed cutoff.
One of the very few UK sportives run on fully closed roads. 120km and 1,200m of climbing through the quiet hill country of the Scottish Borders, out and back from Peebles on the first Sunday of September.
The route strings together the long drag of Devil's Beeftub, the col at the head of Moffat Dale, and the exposed Talla and Megget moorland traverse.
It's a proper climbing day, but an accessible one. A generous 16 km/h cutoff and a shorter 88.8km option make it a realistic first big sportive, not just a race for the sharp end.
Who finishes, and how
Patterns like these, drawn straight from 2025 race data, are baked into how Beina coaches you for this event.
Is Tour O The Borders for you?
- Riders stepping up to their first big closed-road sportive. With no traffic to fight, a long day of real climbing feels achievable rather than intimidating.
- Steady climbers who pace themselves. The route stacks repeated drags, so it rewards riders who ration the effort instead of blowing up on the first big one.
- Anyone who can hold a wheel. On fully closed roads, sitting in a group instead of riding solo turns a hard day into a manageable one.
- Riders who want big Borders scenery without the traffic. No give-way, no cars, just the road, the moor and the open sky.
Training plan for Tour O The Borders
A training plan for Tour O The Borders isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- 120km / 1,200m on the long route, or 88.8km / 940m on the Challenge
- Repeated sustained climbs: Devil's Beeftub, Moffat Dale col, Talla/Megget
- Exposed, wind-scoured moorland where the weather does real damage
- An early start (waves from 06:45), so rehearse a ~04:30 breakfast
- Sweet-spot and threshold blocks: 2x20 sweet spot, 3x12 at threshold
- Real-climb repeats of 10 to 15 minutes to mirror Devil's Beeftub and Moffat
- Long hilly rides building to 4 to 5 hours, climbs ridden at tempo
- Chaingang and group rides, drafting is worth 25 to 30% on closed roads
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- A 12 to 16 week arc: base, build, specialise on rolling terrain, then taper
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
