Edinburgh pledges £1.7m for Tour de France 2027 start

Edinburgh councillors have agreed to set aside £1.7m to cover costs of hosting the start of the men’s Tour de France 2027.

Funding to host the opening stage of the world’s most famous cycling race will come from income from the city’s visitor levy.

Councillors have been assured the Scottish government would cover any financial overruns beyond the £1.7m price tag.

The Scottish government has been exploring having the country host the Tour de France grand depart for 17 years.

The decision to bring the Tour to Edinburgh builds on a number of recent cycling events in Scotland, including the inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023.

That saw more than a million spectators turning out over 11 days of action.

Crowds at the roadside for the three English stages of the Tour in 2014 were estimated at 4.8 million.

Margaret Arma Graham, City of Edinburgh council’s culture and communities committee convener, said: “I’m very glad that there’s going to be such an emphasis on a sporting event in the city, sometimes these are not always a high priority.

“Cycling in general will get a boost from something so famous coming here.”

Councillors have been told community benefits which could come from striking the deal to host the starting event include free bikes for children and cycling lessons for young people.

The men’s and women’s Tour de France will both begin in Britain in 2027 – with details of the start location for the women’s event still to be announced.

The men’s version of the Tour – which was won this year by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar – has been partly staged in Britain four times before, in 1974, 1994, 2007 and 2014.

This will be the first time both men’s and women’s events have come to the same nation outside France in the same year.

Reporting by local democracy reporter Joe Sullivan.