A unique tartan, designed specifically for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, was unveiled in Scotland today, just six weeks before the kick-off of the inaugural event taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland (3-13 August).
Scottish tartans, - patterns of interlocking stripes – are especially known as the cloth used to make kilts, the traditional Scottish highland skirts worn by men. Thousands of unique tartans - representing clans, families, towns, districts, corporations, individuals, or events - are on record. And these now include that of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships!
The tartan, which is based on the colours of the UCI rainbow jersey and the blue of the Scottish Saltire flag, includes 1,920 individual threads added by hand to the loom to create the basis of the woven material . It has been designed and woven by long established weavers, Lochcarron of Scotland, a founding member of The Scottish Tartans Authority. The tartan has been approved as an official tartan and will be listed within the Scottish Register of Tartans, which is administered by National Records of Scotland.
The tartan was unveiled yesterday at Traquair House in Innerleithen, one of the main attractions in the Tweed Valley, which will host the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Championships and UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships (at Glentress Forest) as part of next month’s muti-discipline event. Scottish cross-country Olympic (XCO) riders Charlie Aldridge (2019 Junior UCI World Champion) and Isla Short were at Traquair House to model the tartan at the launch.
The newly-unveiled tartan will be worn by hosts and hostesses at UCI Cycling World Championships medal ceremonies and has been woven into high quality merchandise items.
It will be available to purchase as scarves and blankets as of 27 June from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships official store.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “It is a fantastic initiative to produce a tartan to mark the first ever edition of the UCI Cycling World Championships. The tartan will be a lasting reminder of an event that wrote a new chapter of cycling history and a reminder that this inaugural edition took place in Glasgow and across Scotland. Long after the competitions are finished, the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will live on in the tartan created in their honour.”
Paul Bush, OBE, Chair of the UCI Cycling World Championships said “We are very privileged to be the first ever nation to host this event, so it seems fitting that a unique tartan be created for it. Promoting the rich heritage and traditions of Scotland within the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships is not only important for the eyes of the world that will be on us, but by having a unique and officially registered tartan, it will create a moment in history for this event that will be on record for centuries.”
Main photo: former Junior XCO UCI World Champion Charlie Aldridge models the new tartan