Tuesday October 20th 2026
Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher alongside Portobello pupils heading to Paris and school head teacher Greg McDowall
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Explaining that ‘the visitor levy is largely paying for the Grand Depart’, Edinburgh Council Leader highlighted that collaboration amongst the Edinburgh and Midlothian Council is crucial for the Tour de France to be a success as the iconic race trophy visited Portobello.
The Tour de France Grand Depart Trophy visited Portobello on Monday, celebrating the first time the race will start in Scotland ahead of the world’s largest sporting event making its way through Midlothian and Scotland’s capital.
Highlighting that Edinburgh will invest £1.7 million into the race, The Grand Depart is set to begin at Edinburgh Castle in July 2027. Ahead of the history-making departure the trophy was brought to Portobello promenade to recognise the work to encourage cycling within Portobello High School.
Speaking to the Midlothian View at Portobello, City of Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher explained:
“We do anticipate that it will bring in many, many new visitors because this is such a phenomenally popular event that we know that the hotels, the bars, the restaurants will attract more and more customers.
“Any income will mainly go to local businesses, and that, of course, benefits everybody.
“The visitor levy is largely paying for the Grands Départs, so it’s not coming out of residents’ pockets, it’s coming out of visitors’ contributions.
“I think what the people of Edinburgh will get from it is not only the pride of being the host city for the Grands Départs, but also, of course, the extra money that the whole thing will bring into the city.
“There has to be collaboration with the councils for this event to be successful.”
Council leader Jane Meagher alongside Portobello pupils going to France
Portobello High School has done incredible work to encourage cycling within it’s community ahead of next year’s race, including the launch of Girls Gone Cycling – a scheme to inspire female pupils to take up cycling. The school can provide bikes to students that they are able to take home to make sure cycling is inclusive to all, as well as have a dedicated team of senior pupils to support younger pupils and deliver activities.
The group is part of Pedal Power Porty, a strategy that has seen cycling participation increase significantly with over 150 pupils now taking part in cycling to school, bike activities and the launch of the school mountain bike team. They also take pupils to bike locally, nationally and internationally and have an on-site school bike mechanic to make sure all bikes are well maintained.
Councillor Jane Meagher added: “Hosting the Grands Départs of the Tour de France is going to draw millions and millions of eyes onto the city of Edinburgh to see what a wonderful city it is.
“We are investing £1.7million – money that has been generated from the Visitor Levy – to improve roads for the event and it’s set to bring in millions of pounds for the local economy.
“This will be another event that puts Edinburgh on the worldwide stage and I cannot wait to see the yellow jersey set off with the world famous Edinburgh Castle in the background.”
Headteacher at Portobello High School Greg McDowall said: “Our Pedal Power Porty has been a great success and encouraged so many children to use their bikes. We have a library of bikes for pupils to use so that cycling has no barriers and the older pupils teach basic bike skills and maintenance to the younger children.
“Having the Tour de France trophy come to Portobello is incredible and can only encourage more kids to take up cycling. I know a lot of our pupils are counting the days until the Grand Départ set off from their home city.”
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