Ken Laidlaw Sportive 

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Who is Ken Laidlaw?

Hawick born Ken Laidlaw was the first Scot to complete the Tour de France. He is also one of Hawick’s great sporting heroes and a life member of Hawick Cycling Club. In 1961 he completed “Le Tour” finishing in 65th place with his most famous moment coming on Stage 16 in which he broke away from the peloton and led the stage over mountain passes until he was caught with only 7km to go. For his efforts that day he was awarded the accolade of most aggressive rider. The previous year he had represented Great Britain at the Olympics in Rome.

The Ken Laidlaw Sportive: Sunday, 25 August 2024

We are delighted to be able to offer places on the Ken Laidlaw Sportive again in 2024.  Places were again taken within a week of applications opening in 2023, so apply early to secure your place.  With the demand for places high we have increased the number of places to 450 for 2024 but it is still recommended to book your place early to avoid disappointment. There is an early bird entry fee for the first 250 places or until the 1 January 2024 (whichever comes first) which we have held at £20 for the fourth year.  We want to keep our pricing low in these difficult times. Early entry also helps us plan for suitable start times for entrants and allows us to keep you up-to-date with our plans. We are asking you to create a Entry Central Account to enter our event this year if you haven't already done so.  This helps minimise errors and allows you to make changes to permitted fields including transferring your entry to someone else if you cannot attend.
We made changes to the plans for the Ken Laidlaw following the pandemic which we will retain for 2024 as they have made for a safer and enjoyable event.
We have prided ourselves on the Ken Laidlaw being the friendly sportive with riders enjoying the company of others, the challenges we set and a welcoming well-organised event.  We retain our now famous three routes and introduced gold, silver and bronze medals in 2022 to correspond to the challenge of the three different routes. 
We will have a staggered start with group size kept to a maximum of 50. The first group is off at 8.20am and the last at 9.50am
Entries close 3 weeks before the start of the event and we won't be accepting entries on the day, even if places remain.  
We will keep you informed of any changes through email to entrants and on our Facebook Page at Ken Laidlaw Sportive
Feature of the Ken Laidlaw Sportive
  • Gold, Silver and Bronze routes to choose from to give you an appropriate challenge
  • The event is held mainly on well-surfaced back roads with very little traffic
  • The views around this Borders and Dumfries & Galloway route are fantastic
  • Riders are individually timed with a certificate at the end to verify your time
  • Cafes on route and a free feed station on the Swire.
  • The challenge takes in the Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery, the largest Buddhist centre in Europe.
  • This is an event organised by cyclists for cyclists. 
  • Early Bird price of £20.


Rewards and Facilities for 2024
  • Start pack emailed to entrants prior to the event
  • Headquarters and start at the Volunteer Park, Buccleuch Road, Hawick.
  • Riders set off in small groups at 10 minute intervals
  • Ample car parking near to HQ
  • Cafes and feed station on route
  • GPX file for navigation, route maps available online
  • Well signposted route
  • Broom wagon, support vehicles, motor cycle monitoring of riders and routes, mechanics
  • Photos of riders made available free online
  • All finishers are presented with a certificate with their finish time

Event Details
  1. Starting from 8.20am from Volunteer Park the riders are set off in groups of 50 at 10 minute intervals.  The first groups are for gold and silver route entrants, the last one or two groups for bronze route entrants.
  2. The total distance for the gold challenge is 104 miles, and takes in the Samye Ling Tibetan monastery.
  3. The gold route takes in the climbs of Bonchester Hill; The Note o the Gate; Holm Hill; Eskdalemuir; The Berry Bush; The Swire; Woll Rig and The Leap Linns. (The Berry Bush, and Swire are part of the Gordon Arms Trophy Hilly TT course.)
  4. The silver route turning off at Tushielaw. Although this route is not significantly shorter at 80miles, it does take out the final lumpy secion of the Berry Bush, Swire, Woll etc.
  5. The bronze route is around 55miles in length and turns for home after the Newcastleton refreshment stop and follows a pleasant but challenging run back to Hawick.
  6. The Event control will close at 6pm, allowing a 10mph average speed.

The Ken Laidlaw RoutesTo view the routes click on the links below which will take you to Ride with GPS where you can view route details, see a route guide and download a GPX file for GPS devices.

The Routes

Gold Route (104 miles)
The Gold route takes in the climbs of Bonchester Hill; The Note o the Gate before reaching the first feed stop at Newcastleton, heading over the Holm Hill to Langholm and on to Eskdalemuir. Following the road towards Selkirk and take a left at the Gordon Arms over The Berry Bush then The Swire penultimate hill is Woll Rig and finally The Leap Linns. (The Berry Bush, and Swire are part of the Gordon Arms Trophy Hilly TT course)
Silver Route (85 Miles)
This route takes in the climbs of Bonchester Hill; The Note o the Gate; Holm Hill; Eskdalemuir and turns for home at Tushielaw heading through Roberton before returning to Hawick
Bronze Route (46 Miles)
This route takes in the climbs of Bonchester Hill; The Note o the Gate; returning to Hawick via Hermitage, Whitrope, Lime Kiln Edge and Cogsmill