TOUR de France record holder Mark Cavendish claims it will be difficult to comprehend the magnitude of an Edinburgh Grand Depart.
Cavendish, widely regarded as the best sprinter in the event’s history, was in the Scottish capital as it was announced the 2027 men’s event would kick off in the city.
Three stages in each of the men’s and women’s races will take place in Britain with Scotland, Wales and England all hosting.
When asked about his previous experience of competing in Scotland, the retired racer said: “You don’t really need to check your weather app in the morning. It could be sunny now but it’s going to rain in an hour. You know it’s going to be hard both from a terrain point of view and an elements point of view. And also beautiful.
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“I think both my British Championships came here in Scotland and more than anything I’ve always had, personally, an incredible welcome here, a real personable feel and enthusiastic support.
“I don’t think we can comprehend what a start of the Tour de France is going to be like here. It’s going to be bigger than you can even imagine. It’s really quite exciting.”
Some of the cobbles in central Edinburgh could prove a challenge.
“They’re not comfortable anyway,” Cavendish said. “If you could choose to go on a leisurely ride, you’re probably not going to go over them, but they make for a great bike race for starters.
“And they also make for a good aesthetic picture on the television and ultimately that’s what the tour does best, it shows the beauty of a country and a city and a town, especially a historic town. That’s why Edinburgh fits quite perfectly into what the Tour de France is about.”
Cavendish, who has won a record 35 stages of the Tour de France, fondly recalled the two previous British Grand Departs in 2007 and 2014.
“The first one was my first ever Tour de France, in London, and many years ago it was heralded as the greatest Grand Depart our generation could remember,” the 39-year-old said.
“I remember not being able to stop and pee at the side the road because it was four or five people deep the whole way from London to Canterbury. I was so nervous, I don’t remember much of it, to be fair.
“We talked about that as the greatest Grand Depart, then we went to Yorkshire in ’14 and it was something else, wasn’t it?”
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The size of the crowds sticks out in his memory.
“The amount of people that, for sure, they’re not bike riders,” he said. “They’re out enjoying the day, thankfully sunny days for the most part we’ve had when the stages over here. Embracing it, embracing what for 100 years bike racing has been about.
“I started in quite a niche sport in the UK and you see people out watching, enjoying it, enjoying everything that it’s about. For me, over any of the competition side, that’s what sticks out.
“We’re very fortunate in this country that cycling has been this massive boon in the last 20 years and I think the success we’ve had as a nation has been part of that, but to be able to see not just the greatest bike race on Earth, but the greatest annual sporting event on Earth, here, it’s only going to inspire.
“I think anybody who sees a bike race pass with that magnitude, you can’t help but want to go out and ride your bike.
“I know my kids have got a bike rider, or an ex-bike rider, as a father, but when they ever see a bike race, the first thing they want to do when they get back home is ride their bikes.”
