The Tour de France claims to be the world’s third biggest televised sporting event after the Olympics and the football World Cup, which would make it the biggest televised annual competition.

The “Grand Départ” of the 122-years-old race, held across three days, has been on the road since Amsterdam in 1954, only occasionally returning to the home country, much to the frustration of French cities desperate for the limelight. Setting off from Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and last year from Florence, each city stumped up around £5.1 million for the privilege.

However, that’s just the start, as it were, and in 2015 then London Mayor Boris Johnson turned down the opportunity because total costs came in at around £30 million. But a local audit in Bilbao calculated their institutions benefitted from a return on investment ratio of 1:8.5, with €12.2 million generating €103.9 on the back of global exposure.

If true, the £1.7 million Edinburgh Council is being asked to contribute for the Grand Départ to set off from the Castle Esplanade in 2027 sounds like good use of public money. It’s obviously the view of Edinburgh’s Chief Executive Paul Lawrence who, with a tight turnaround for a decision ─ the full agreement must be signed by this Monday ─ approved the spending in principle without first seeking formal council committee approval following detailed scrutiny.

Edinburgh is hosting the race (Image: free) This week he was forced to admit it was “inappropriate” but felt a positive informal discussion with political group leaders in October was enough to proceed.

Detailed scrutiny is the theory and depends on who’s on the committee and how the politics plays out, as far from a business........

© Herald Scotland