Tour de France 2012: Edinburgh Castle lined up to host 2017 Grand Depart The logistics of getting back from Edinburgh to France is the bit we need to nail, by doing it in such a special way that they will want to come. It has to be something that makes the riders, the TV audiences and the sponsors go 'wow, that was well worth going to Britain for'. Edinburgh Castle would host the presentation of the teams on the esplanade where the Military Tattoo is held annually, with the Old Town, including the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Park, staging the opening prologue. Edinburgh, with its annual festival, is used to accommodating large numbers of international visitors, while also being a compact city, all of which are attractive qualities to the ASO. Up to three further stages south from Edinburgh would see the peloton return to France, with discussions ongoing with authorities on the route. It is a second bid bringing to take the Tour to Britain for the first time since 2007, with Yorkshire eager to host the race as soon as 2014. "We've mapped out where it could potentially go," Turner added. We've then picked two or three routes we think would be really, really persuasive and we've engaged with UK Sport and British Cycling to help us. From everybody other than Yorkshire, which you would expect, everybody we wrote to said 'yes, we would be interested'. Whether ASO would be prepared to take the Tour to Britain twice in close succession remains unknown. It's unlikely that it's going to come twice within two or three years. In that respect, even though it's different years, we are in competition. The Scotland proposal is likely to be finalised by the end of the year, but ASO usually wait until fewer than two years before to announce the Grand Depart venue, meaning there could be a wait to hear if the project is successful. If the Tour does go to Scotland, it would continue a memorable period of sport. Glasgow is hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the Ryder Cup is to take place at Gleneagles in Perthshire. The 2013 Grand Depart, marking the start of the 100th Tour, is set to take place in Corsica.