Scotland to host Tour de France start in 2026?

The recent super worlds in Glasgow may have provided significant assistance to Scotland’s bid to host the start of the 2026 Tour de France, according to the Scottish newspaper, The National.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme visited Glasgow to watch the men’s elite road race. This has sparked rumours that the efforts to secure the Grands Départ are advancing significantly, potentially featuring an inaugural stage beginning in Edinburgh.

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British Cycling’s CEO Jon Dutton was there to greet Prudhomme when he arrived in Scotland. Drawing approximately one million spectators throughout Scotland during the 11-day span, these events served as a compelling showcase of the UK’s potential, Dutton said.

“We know ASO [the Amaury Sports Organization] have huge respect for our ability to deliver major races. I think the UK wants to have more moments like this and the Tour and other events would be on that trajectory,” he said. “The Tour is the biggest commercial road race in cycling, so it would be great at a point in the future to bring that back, and I think any event organizer looking at this event would certainly want to come back to the UK.”

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The Tour has begun twice in the United Kingdom. The first time was in 2007, in London, followed by a start in 2014 in Leeds. For many years, the Tour always started almost always on French soil, but that has since changed in recent decades. In 1954, the TdF started in the Netherlands, and a few years later in Belgium. It would visit those two countries, as well as West Germany, a few more times over the years. In 2022, the race began on Danish soil for the first time ever, and the 2023 edition began in the Basque country, just as it had in 1992.

In 2024, the Tour heads to the Bel Paese, with an Italian start in Florence.