THE Borders strengthened its position as one of the UK’s premier mountain biking destinations as Glentress took the Trail of the Year award.

The venue just a few miles from Peebles was also voted Scottish Trail of the Year, and the UK XC Centre of the Year.

A trail at Innerleithen was also recognised as the ninth best in the UK in the awards by mountain biking website iBikeRide.

Glentress is part of 7stanes, a group of seven mountain biking trails spanning the south of Scotland.

Four venues in Scotland - including three of the 7stanes - were placed in the top 15 trail and bike parks across the UK.

Mandy Layden, development manager for the 7stanes Community Interest Company, said: “With Glentress being quoted as a ‘Mountain Biking Mecca’ by Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Adventures and now winning ‘UK Trail of the Year 2014’ as well as Innerleithen and Kirroughtree ranking in the top fifteen in the UK and second and third respectively in Scotland, 7stanes should be on everyone’s top to do list.

“7stanes has something to offer all riders, from beginner to expert. Bikers/families looking for trails with breath taking scenery to adrenalin junkies that are looking to be challenged on the more technical trails.” The mechanism for choosing the Trail of The Year worked by aggregating all the rider reviews throughout the year into a Trail Index. This index is made up of over 1,000 rider reviews and growing all the time. A trail needs to have a minimum number of ratings as well as having reviews written in the last year to be eligible for entry.

The top three trails and bike parks will receive a plaque in recognition. This will be both a physical plaque to display for their trail centre and or bike parks as well as a digital badge for their listing on iBikeride as well as for their own website and social media.

7stanes thanked all the riders who contributed their reviews on the site, Forestry Commission Scotland for all their hard work maintaining the trails and the local volunteer groups.

Hugh McKay, recreation and tourism manager for Forestry Commission Scotland, said: “This is great news and reaffirms the 7stanes network of trails as being the top place for riding.

“We’ve made huge investments in maintaining the trails and adding modern facilities around the 7stanes centres. We want to keep building on this success to make sure we attract more visitors and increase the benefits to local economies.” Daniel Mintz, the founder of iBikeride, added: “Scotland has some of the best riding in the UK and the results for Scotland and particularly the fact that three of the 7stanes feature in the Top Ten UK trails with Glentress taking the crowning spot is testament to this and to the work of 7stanes and the Scottish Forestry Commission in creating fantastic trails.”