Edinburgh to provide ‘magnificent backdrop' to start of 2027 Tour de France
Edinburgh has been chosen to provide a 'magnificent backdrop' to the start of the 2027 Tour de France.
Scotland, England and Wales will share six stages of the world's biggest cycling event – three for both the men's and women's races, which will both kick off in the same country, the United Kingdom, for the first time.
The UK will host the men's event for the fifth time – the first was in Plymouth in 1974 – and will start the race for a third time after London in 2007 and Leeds in 2014, when the West Yorkshire city overcame a bid from Edinburgh.
The Tour de France Femmes was brought under the same organisation as the men's race in 2022 and is coming to Britain for the first time.
More details about the routes will be announced in the autumn, but Scotland's prominent role will be the culmination of 20 years of talks.
Bid chair, Paul Bush, has a long history of bringing major sporting events to the country in his previous roles with Events Scotland, Commonwealth Games Scotland and as chair of the 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships.
'Scotland is known as the perfect stage for events,' he said at an announcement in Edinburgh. 'And I think this city is absolutely unequivocal there in terms of the backdrop it can provide. It's probably one of the finest cities in Europe, if not in the world.
'This will be the largest ever free sporting event to come to the British Isles, and that's pretty special.'
Tour de France general director Christian Prudhomme added: 'Why Edinburgh? Because it's a magical city. You are only 20 minutes away from the city centre and you are in the middle of nowhere. I know because I walked with my daughter and my wife two years ago to the beach – it's only a 40-minute walk to go to the sea.
'In the Tour de France, what is very important is the helicopter shots. So Edinburgh and Scotland will offer a magnificent backdrop to the tour.
'Le Tour de France is the only sports event that is made also for people who don't like sport. Because it's geography, it's culture, it's pride. People are proud when they see their home from above.'
Prudhomme recalled the previous Grand Departs in Britain.
'In 2007, I will always remember the riders applauding the spectators a few minutes before crossing London Bridge,' he said. 'It's very rare to see riders applauding the spectators.
'And of course in 2014 in Yorkshire, it was like a wall of people. It was massive. And with smiles on everybody's faces. It was like a corridor of sound for the riders.'
Bush stressed how pivotal the women's race had been to the bid.
'It's bringing men's and women's sports onto the same platform, it's providing the same backdrop and opportunities,' he said. 'We've probably got the opportunity to have the most innovative tour in history.'
The project involves a partnership between bodies such as British Cycling, UK Sport and the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments, all three of which have committed to making funds available to supplement private finance.
British Cycling chief executive Jon Dutton vowed it would involve the 'most ambitious social impact programme' that has been delivered in the UK.
'You can take this race to rural communities that never see a publicly-funded major event,' he said. 'We want to make sure that we have the iconic tourism opportunities and we'll also want to make sure that we touch as much of the population as we can.'
Dutton also talked about objectives around increasing participation in cycling, opportunities to volunteer and spectate, and also 'uniting communities'.
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