News 1: Tour of Moray Goes Open for 2001

With the postponement of the Girvan and Tour of the Kingdom races due to the foot and mouth crisis, the Tour of Moray will be Scotland's premier stage race for 2001. The organisation has decided to allow elite category riders to enter and give them the opportunity to compete in a top class event. This will be for a one year experiment initially. The ethos of the event will not be forgotten, however, with the 3rd/4th category and Under 23 competitions both receiving an increase in the prize fund.

It is considered that the event will not be affected too much by going open because the standard of the 1st and 2nd category riders and the Irish teams has been very high anyway.

A major sponsorship deal has been struck with Macallan, the whisky people, and this will mean a race budget of £8000 and a prize fund of around £3000. Full police co-operation and assistance allows a 100 rider field and, based on previous years, a full entry is anticipated.

News 2: Tour of Moray

THE North of Scotland's largest cycle race is secured for another year. The fourth annual Tour of Moray Cycle Race will take place on the 9th and 10th of June 2001.

This large and popular sporting event has been secured not only by the reliable aid from Moray Council and Moray Badenoch & Stathspey Entrprise, but also by the generous support from The Macallan Distillery. Offers of sponsorship from Moray Stone Cutters and Stuart Cycles of Forres for the Under 23 and Sprint categories respectively, have been gratefully accepted. Alan Milne will be supplying the race vehicles, while the Eight Acres Hotel and The Moray Leisure Centre will provide facilities for the riders.

Due to the postponement of several other major Scottish races, this year's Tour of Moray will be Scotland's premier race. The event organisers have made the decision to allow elite riders to enter, giving them an opportunity to compete in a top class event. Initially, this will be an experiment. However, the ethos of the event will not be forgotten with 3rd/4th category and Under 23 competitions both receiving an increased prize fund.

The expected turn-out of over 100 is, if the previous years are anything to go by, the perfect place to spot young up and coming talent. Previous years have seen entries from Ireland and Germany. This year, there have already been inquiries from as far afield as America.

This three stage, two-hundred mile race will take the riders from coast to country to town, meandering through the countryside of Moray.