Officials at EventScotland have unveiled an audacious plan to bid for the opening stage of the Tour de France, the most prestigious event in cycling.

Organisers of the tour take the first stage of the event – known as the Grand Depart – out of France every three years, with London hosting the event in 2007.

Pictured: London welcomed the Tour de France in 2007

Now Scotland hopes to emulate this success, with the tour beginning in Glasgow or Edinburgh in 2017.

EventScotland chief operating officer Paul Bush said: “The Tour de France is an obvious fit for Scotland.”

While it would cost approximately £5 million to host the event, Scotland is keen to build on other expected sporting successes, with Glasgow to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Gleneagles welcoming the Ryder Cup in the same year.

Sport tourism is also big business in the travel trade, with EventScotland expecting the event to generate up to £100 million in revenue.

Typically the Grand Depart comprises an opening day Prologue – a short city centre time-trial designed to showcase the host location – followed by a full length stage the following day, as was the case in London.

The Tour de France is one of the most important sporting events in the world

City.Mobi

Also in Scotland today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new city guide to Edinburgh. 

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, London.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Edinburgh.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.