Last weekend representatives from British Cycling, EventScotland and UK Sport visited the Belgian city of Liege to attend the start - or Grand Depart - of the 2012 Tour de France. With a proposal for the opening stages of the 2017 event being developed, the British partnership experienced the spectacular Tour de France first-hand.

According to representatives from the Bring-the-Tour-to-Britain partnership, fine details of the proposal for a Tour de France start in Great Britain are currently being developed. According to the representatives, Tour organizer Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) was impressed with the initial outline plans for how the stages could run.

Following the last visit of the Tour de France to the UK - in London and Kent in 2007 - the aspiration for 2017 is for an event that runs through the spine of Britain, linking some of its biggest towns and cities, and giving millions of people across the whole country the opportunity to watch and engage with the world's most famous road race.

The iconic Edinburgh Castle would be the location for the grand presentation of the teams and riders, using the new stands made for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and offering a seating capacity of over 8,000 at this spectacular venue. This would be followed by a prologue staged in Edinburgh taking in the Queens' Edinburgh residence Holyrood Palace, The Scottish Parliament, the Royal Mile and Arthurs Seat.

Up to three further stages are currently being designed with an eye on ensuring a quick rider transfer back to France for the remainder of the 2012 Tour de France. The next steps will involve further engagement with local authorities throughout Britain, as well as key bodies from a number of sectors including cycling development, business and tourism.

International Events Director for EventScotland Stuart Turner told Roadcycling.com "The experience in Liege this weekend was superb and has given us further insight into the running of the Grand Depart, which will ultimately contribute to our final plans."

"The most important thing for us is to develop a proposal that will deliver a spectacular bike race for ASO and most importantly the riders, and I am confident that the combined experience and knowledge of the partners involved will achieve that. It would be unprecedented for Britain to host an international event, which reached so much of the country and so many people."

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