Onley set for Kelso return after Tour de France success

Scotland's Oscar Onley finished inside the top 40 on his Tour de France debut

Oscar Onley has lifted his career to a new high after a successful Tour de France debut - and now he is looking forward to a Scottish homecoming.

In his first year as a professional, the 21-year-old from Kelso finished Le Tour in 39th place on Sunday.

Some 176 riders started the race on 29 June but 35 withdrew over a gruelling three weeks, leaving Oscar among 141 to finish.

He was second in the eight-strong DSM-Firmenich PostNL team, just 36 minutes behind the legendary Romain Bardet, who was riding his final Tour.

Of the 11 British competitors in the field, he was third best, behind England’s veteran Yates twins, Adam and Simon.

Onley was the first Scot to take part in cycling's most famous race since David Millar in 2013, and only the fifth in history to complete the course.

The Borderer came 10th in the race for the white jersey - for competitors under 26 - and ranked 24th among the climbers after showing his promise with a fifth-place finish on the mountainous stage 17.

To complete the race, Onley was in the saddle for more than 86 hours, covering 2,173 miles and climbing 52,000 metres of ascents across 19 days.

Scottish fans will get a chance to see him close up after he confirmed his intention to be on the start line when the Tour of Britain returns to the Kelso cobbles on 3 September.

The first stage will start and finish in his home town, following a route around the Borders, before the race ends in Suffolk five days later.

"It's cool that it's coming back to Kelso," Onley said. "So far, the plan is that I will be there and it will be really exciting to be back in my home town. Racing on home roads is always special.

"The Borders has shown in the past how good an area it is every time the Tour has been there.

"Once I've had some time to rest and recover from the Tour de France, that will definitely give me something special to look forward to."

The Tour of Britain – first won by Scot Ian Steel in 1951 - came to the Scottish Borders for the first time in 2011 and, attracting crowds of several thousand for the starts, has proven popular with riders and teams.

Full stages enclosed in the region took place in 2019 and 2022, with Onley taking part for the first time two years ago when the race flew past his own house.