Bicycle barrier

Should the starting point for the 2017 Tour de France be awarded to Edinburgh (your report, 17 May), it would be a feather in the capital’s cap. Given that Alex Salmond is so confident of winning the 2014 independence referendum, it would perhaps be the first major sporting event he would attend as Prime Minister of Scotland.

Presumably Scotland would not be a member of the EU after splitting from the rest of the former UK and therefore not party to the open borders agreement.

Therefore, the prospect exists of the cyclists being delayed at passport control at the English Border, which is not ideal in a cycle race!

Bob MacDougall

Kippen

Stirlingshire