IT offered a fabulous range of opportunities for cyclists of all ages and abilities, a bonanza for local businesses and a great spectacle for Peeblesshire residents.

But organisers this week admitted the fate of the showpiece event of TweedLove is hanging in the balance.

Festival boss Neil Dalgleish has had little opportunity to reflect on the success of an event that has mushroomed into the biggest of its kind in the UK.

Instead he is beginning the work aimed at ensuring the Enduro World Series remains a part of the TweedLove programme.

Mr Dalgleish is planning talks with Scottish Borders Council in the hope they can aid in a bid to receive additional funding from Event Scotland.

“The work starts now for next year’s TweedLove and it would be a crying shame for the Borders and for Scotland if we were to lose Enduro,” he said. “There’s no doubt we would like to have it back and the international teams who have been here would definitely like to come back. Certainly the Enduro organisers have left the door open for us to stage it again.” The EWS event is expensive to stage and is subsidised by other TweedLove events. “We have only been able to do it because of all the community support,” said Mr Dalgleish. “Last year our budget was really stretched and this year we’ve just scraped through.” The key to keeping EWS in Tweeddale is having Tweedlove recognised as an international event which would qualify it for a substantial increase on the £25,000 it received from Event Scotland for this year’s festival. There is also a hope that more local businesses will come forwards as sponsors.

“We need to see how things are going to work out but at this stage you would have to say there is a doubt over whether we will be able to stage the Enduro World Series again.” said Dalgleish.

Tweeddale East councillor Stuart Bell promised that SBC would support TweedLove’s bid to become recognised as an international event.

“TweedLove is a fabulous community event and it should now become known as 'International TweedLove’. That’s what I’ve always campaigned for and SBC wil work with TweedLove to make sure that this will happen.

“I am very hopeful that we will be able to secure the EWS for Tweeddale.” Mountain bike stars from across the globe travelled to the Borders to take part in the EWS last weekend and as well having to tackle the tough Tweeddale terrain they also had to contend with the vagaries of the Peeblesshire weather. It was so windy on the Sunday that organisers were forced to reduce the event, cutting out two stages of the race for safety reasons.

The shortened course and crazy weather did not spoil the competitive nature of the race with New Zealander Justin Leov coming through from fifth place at the end of the first day to claim his first EWS victory. In the women’s event Leov’s teammate Tracy Moseley followed up her victory in Tweeddale 12 months ago.

The crowds at Tweed Green had a local success to cheer as Crawford Carrick-Anderson climbed on to the podium after winning the Master’s race.

Last year, over its two weeks TweedLove provided a boost of £1.7m to the local economy - and Mr Dalgleish is confident a similar figure will be returned when all the calculations are made.

“I am sure we will be seeing a figure of between £1.5m and £2m for the economy this time round,” he said. “TweedLove is now an important part of our social and cultural calendar. It helps to pull the community together and is a pathway into cycling.

“I am hopeful it will continue to thrive even without the Enduro World Series.

“TweedLove is like a miniature cycling version of the Commonwealth Games and like that event we can’t exist without public funding, commerical sponsorship, lots of goodwill and lots of volunteers.” TweedLove provided a boost for many businesses with hotels, pubs, eateries and coffee shops especially reaping the benefit.

Kevin Kenny, the manager at the County Inn in Peebles, said: “Our tills were kept busy throughout the two weeks and I am sure all the publicans in Peebles would say the same, “Our takings matched that of last year which is excellent considering that Wetherspoon had not opened when TweedLove was held last year. We had between 10,000 and 15,000 visiting Peebles during TweedLove and it has to be a good thing that all these people saw what Peebles has to offer.” Councillor Bell said: “I was out on my bike on Saturday and Sunday and when I stopped in a coffee shop in Innerleithen they told me they were blown away by the number of cyclists coming in.” Complaints over disruption caused by the road closures appear far fewer than 12 months ago. ”There is no doubt that some people are inconvenienced by the road closures but unlike last year there were very few problems that I am aware of,” said Mr Dalgleish “We received plenty of glowing words of praise about Peebles from our visitors and I am confident that many of them will come back next year.” Councillor Bell added: “I have not heard of any complaints, though there have been a few issues with landowners.

“The organisers have done a splendid job and they should be congratulated.”