Latest news with #GrandDépart
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Scotsman
How Edinburgh can get rid of its disgraceful and dangerous pothole menace
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Given Edinburgh is Scotland's capital – and a city that attracts millions of tourists every year – the state of its roads is an absolute disgrace. We may live in one of the world's wealthiest countries, yet the city's worst roads look like they have been transplanted from one of the poorest. Staggeringly, there were more than 20,000 potholes in the city last year, with nearly one in three of its roads in need of some kind of repair work. The council has now estimated that it would cost nearly £86 million to ensure all its roads are 'generally in a good state of repair'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Given the council's budget for roadworks and surface treatment is just £12m for this financial year, it seems clear that Edinburgh will have to put up with this blight for a long time to come – unless something changes. Edinburgh's streets have become littered with potholes of various sizes in recent years (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA Pothole threat to Tour de France Potholes and poorly maintained roads are a serious problem for all road users, not just motorists, with people trying to cross the road, particularly elderly pensioners, and cyclists among those at risk. In two years' time, Edinburgh will host the 'Grand Départ' of the Tour de France and the eyes of cycling fans all over the world will be fixed on the city's streets. This may be bad enough for Scotland's international reputation, but if one of the cyclists were to crash because of a pothole, the resulting furore would be considerable. A cynical way to stop this from happening would be to fix the streets on the Tour's route, but that would simply highlight the lack of action elsewhere. Smooth streets for Tour de France cyclists, bone-shaking, axle-shattering misery for Edinburgh's own citizens. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, this is a solution. From July next year, Edinburgh will impose a five per cent 'tourist tax' that is expected to raise £50m a year, with the money to be spent on infrastructure improvements. We suggest fixing the city's streets would be far and away the most popular infrastructure improvement. And if visitors effectively paid for Edinburgh to get rid of its pothole menace, then complaints about over-tourism would diminish markedly.
Arab News
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
The Tour de France is returning to the UK in 2027 with a start from Edinburgh
PARIS: Britain will host the Grand Départ of both the Tour de France and the women's version of the race in 2027, organizers said Wednesday. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scotland launches Tour de France for first time in 2027
The Scottish city of Edinburgh will host the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2027 as the world's most famous cycling race returns to Britain for the fifth time. It will be the third time the race has started in Britain after London in 2007 and Leeds in 2014, and the first time it's been launched from Scotland. Organisers also confirmed on Wednesday that the Tour de France Femmes will come to Britain in 2027, the first time both races have held stages in the same country outside of France. 🔥🔥🔥 You can feel the excitement of @MarkCavendish! It will be a great Grand Départ! 🔥🔥🔥 Le Grand Départ du #TDF2027 à Edimbourg sera un moment exceptionnel, c'est @MarkCavendish qui vous le dit ! — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) March 19, 2025 Further details on routes will be announced in the autumn, but the prospect of a stage on the cobblestones of Edinburgh's Royal Mile is a mouth-watering one. Organisers also confirmed the Tour's first three stages will be in Scotland, England and Wales. "Why Edinburgh? Because it's a magical city," the Tour's General Director Christian Prudhomme told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday. "In the Tour de France and all cycling races, what is very important is the helicopter shots. "Edinburgh and Scotland will offer a magnificent backdrop." The Tour first came to Britain in 1974 when Plymouth hosted a stage and it returned 20 years later in Dover to celebrate the opening of the Channel Tunnel. London staged the Grand Depart in 2007 and in 2014 massive crowds perched on the Yorkshire hills as the race began in brutal and spectacular fashion. "It was a wall of people, it was massive," Prudhomme said. The opening stage in 2014 ended in Harrogate where home favourite Mark Cavendish crashed badly, ruling him out of the rest of the race. Despite that disappointment, Cavendish said starting a Tour in Britain was unforgettable. "I did two British Grand Departs. The first one was my first ever Tour of France and for many years that was the greatest Grand Depart any rider of our generation could remember," sprinting great Cavendish, who won a record 35 Tour stages, told reporters. "It was four, five people deep the whole way from London to Canterbury. Then we went to Yorkshire in 2014 and that was something else, wasn't it." Last year's Tour Grand Depart took place in Florence, Italy, with the 2026 race scheduled to start in Spain in Barcelona.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Tour de France is returning to the UK in 2027 with a start from Edinburgh
The Tour de France is returning to the UK in 2027 with a start from Edinburgh PARIS (AP) — Britain will host the Grand Départ of both the Tour de France and the women's version of the race in 2027, organizers said Wednesday. It will be the 27th time that the Tour de France starts from a foreign country, and the first time since 2014 — when the Tour began in the Yorkshire region — that Britain hosts the start of cycling's biggest race. The 2007 Tour started in London. For the Tour de France Femmes, it will be the first time holding stages in Britain. Advertisement Full details of the route have yet to be announced but organizers revealed that the men's Tour de France will begin in Edinburgh, Scotland. There will be stages in England and Wales, too. 'The Tour de France and the UK share a rich history, and I am delighted to bring the Grand Départ to the country in 2027," said Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France director. "Britain has always welcomed the Tour with enthusiasm and pride, and this collaboration across England, Scotland, and Wales promises to make the event even more special.' Last year's Grand Depart took place in Florence, Italy, with the 2026 race due to start in Spain in Barcelona. This year's race will start from the French northern city of Lille. ___ AP cycling:
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
The Tour de France is returning to the UK in 2027 with a start from Edinburgh
PARIS (AP) — Britain will host the Grand Départ of both the Tour de France and the women's version of the race in 2027, organizers said Wednesday. It will be the 27th time that the Tour de France starts from a foreign country, and the first time since 2014 — when the Tour began in the Yorkshire region — that Britain hosts the start of cycling's biggest race. The 2007 Tour started in London. For the Tour de France Femmes, it will be the first time holding stages in Britain. Full details of the route have yet to be announced but organizers revealed that the men's Tour de France will begin in Edinburgh, Scotland. There will be stages in England and Wales, too. 'The Tour de France and the UK share a rich history, and I am delighted to bring the Grand Départ to the country in 2027,' said Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France director. 'Britain has always welcomed the Tour with enthusiasm and pride, and this collaboration across England, Scotland, and Wales promises to make the event even more special.' Last year's Grand Depart took place in Florence, Italy, with the 2026 race due to start in Spain in Barcelona. This year's race will start from the French northern city of Lille.
