More plans for Scotland's 2017 Tour bid emerge

More plans for Scotland's bid to host the 2017 Tour de France have been released.

There's a hoped-for start in Edinburgh, before provisionally heading south into England and possibly Wales. Local authorities in those countries have already been approached, according to Wednesday's press release.

Discussions are also ongoing with the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), which organises the Tour.

National events agency EventScotland, who have been working on plans for the last few years, announced plans to work with British Cycling and fellow events company UK Sport on their proposal.

The Tour de France was last on these shores for the iconic 2007 race start in London.

"The last visit to Britain by the Tour de France was a great success for all involved and is still held in very high regard by those riders that took part," British Cycling CEO Ian Drake said in EventScotland's press release.

"Bringing the Tour de France to Great Britain is a key part of our Major Event Strategy," he added.

Scotland has a rich cycling heritage; top riders to hail from the country include Robert Millar, Sir Chris Hoy and Graeme Obree.

It has played host to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the 2007 world championships. Edinburgh also hosted a popular nocturne city-centre race in 2009 and 2010.

However, the Scottish proposal may clash with a bid to host the 2016 Tour from Yorkshire. Tour director Christian Prudhomme recently ruled out the possibility of back-to-back Grand Départs in the UK to CW.

If the Scottish bid proves successful, the race is likely to stay in the country for several days. "If we do a Grand Départ outside of London, we'd have to stay in the country for a longer time than we've ever done before," Prudhomme said.

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