Scotland will soon be the host of a new urban downhill race and it may even be shown live on BBC Scotland.
The race is set to make its way through the centre of Selkirk over a 2km course and is in the later stages of talks between the organisers and BBC Scotland to make the event available to watch on national television.
Paul McGreal, an organiser at Durty Events, told the
Border Telegraph: “There is still much to organise but the exciting part is that the BBC like the idea and the intention is this will be one of their Friday night live broadcasts.
“We have also held early talks with Scottish Borders Council and they are supportive. The reality is that not many places could hold such an event – there are not many towns with the height difference from start to finish – and we’d love it if the urban downhill could become an annual event.”
Exact details for the event are light at the moment, but organisers are planning for the race to take place either at the end of August or the beginning of September and they hope to attract up to 60 riders to take on the urban course.
Urban downhill races have seen a huge rise in popularity with events like Red Bull Valparaiso Cerro Abajo Urban DH attracting thousands of spectators and some top pro riders but attempts to replicate their success in the UK have never been met with success. The Howard Street Dual race in Sheffield is probably the only urban race to have grown a following over the years.
Oh yeah, TV Gold!
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... "Unfortunately C19 trashed plans for the Urban DH for 2020 alongside loads of other stuff.
The plan at the moment is to try and run it late March/early April next year. Watch this space….
The event will be open (ish), but we need to know that riders are not going to spanner themselves – the course is tricky and obviously has lots of nasty hard surfaces!. So, we will be issuing ‘invite-only’ entries, both to folks we know, but also to those who can demonstrate they are riding to a decent level through SDA, SES etc. results. Again, watch this space…."
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