Borders mountain bike racing firm secures US media backing
- Published
The Enduro World Series is set to come to the Borders later this year
A Scottish mountain bike events firm plans to "rapidly expand" its staffing after securing support from US media giant Discovery.
Borders-based Enduro Sports Organisation (ESO) runs the Enduro World Series in 35 countries.
It said the "significant investment" would allow it to work on new technologies to broadcast races.
The first UK race in six years is set to be held at ESO's home base in Innerleithen in October.
It will see some of the world's fastest enduro racers take to the area's trails, alongside amateur and e-bike racing.
EWS currently employs 10 staff but has plans to treble that number over the next two years thanks to the investment from Discovery, which owns Eurosport.
The Innerleithen firm runs the event which takes place at locations across the world
Managing director Chris Ball said: "We are all incredibly proud to live and work in the Tweed Valley and so I'm excited to announce this new step for the company and our staff team.
"We're delighted to be creating more local jobs in the near future.
"We're looking forward to hosting our final event of the year in the beautiful Scottish Borders later in the year, and we can't wait to showcase just how special this area is to a global audience."
The Enduro World Series was created in 2012 and now includes a network of more than 80 events.
Enduro racing takes place over a series of special stages with the winner being whoever completes them in the fastest overall combined time.
Races take place over a series of special timed stages
Eurosport President Andrew Georgiou said Discovery and its brands had long been the "home of cycling".
"Our investment in EWS fits nicely with that positioning and adds to our growing events business," he said.
He said it would help the company to grow the series commercially and in terms of audience.
"We're looking forward to bringing our commercial expertise, technology and distribution networks to scale the EWS product further," he said.