Tickets for the team presentation of next year’s Tour de France Grand Départ have gone on sale for as much as £99, despite the majority of previous events being held free-of-charge to the general public.

Taking place on the esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle, the premium ticket prices were not included in the original announcement of pre-sale tickets, only confirmation that tickets would be available from £27.

But an image shared on the Grand Départ’s website and on a map made available to pre-sale ticket buyers shows around approximately half of the tickets costing more than double that, with no concession pricing made available for the 90-minute ceremony, which is also livestreamed on social media and broadcast on television.

The arena, constructed every year for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (which is presenting the ceremony) seats around 8,500 people. Announcing details of the ceremony earlier this week, organisers said “the opening ceremony will combine elite sport with an unmistakable Scottish welcome from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, producers of one of the world’s greatest immersive events.

“Featuring Highland dancers, massed pipes and drums, and new music created specially for the occasion, the ceremony will celebrate Scotland’s culture and creativity while marking the start of an historic Grand Départ.”

The ceremony is taking place on Wednesday 30th June at 6:30pm, and will see each team and rider presented to the crowd of spectators, with select riders conducting interviews on-stage. This year’s presentation took place in front of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Both that event, and the 2025 presentation in Lille were held free of charge. The last time the race started in the UK in 2014, the team presentation took place in front of around 10,000 spectators at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, though the riders also rode through the city centre beforehand. Tickets cost between £45 and £85 for the two-hour event.

In contrast, the 2007 team presentation in Trafalgar Square, London, was free to the public. No plans have yet been announced for a team presentation for the Tour de France Femmes, which begins in Leeds.

The government has invested £32 million in the UK’s Grand Départ bid for both the men’s and women’s Tour de France, whilst more than £65 million has been spent by respective devolved governments and local authorities. The spending makes the Grand Départ the most expensive cycling event ever held in Britain, eclipsing the £62 million spent on the World Championships in Glasgow in 2023, and among the most expensive Grand Départ’s in the Tour de France’s history.

In response to earlier criticism of the £27 ticket announcement, organisers told Jeremy Whittle that the ticketing reflects “a one-off event that fans won’t have seen before at a Grand Départ”. They added that the teams will ride from Holyrood Palace up the Royal Mile before reaching Edinburgh Castle, and that the road will be “completely unticketed”.