British Cycling has backed the return of the Tour de France to the United Kingdom for a future Grand Départ, with the organisation signalling it is curiosity in bringing again the Tour for 2027.
The race final visited British shores for a trio of phases in Yorkshire and London again in 2014, whereas in 2007 the capital hosted the prologue and stage 1.
Grand Départs in Lille and Barcelona have already been confirmed for the following two editions of the race, which means {that a} British bid may very well be profitable in 2027.
British Cycling CEO John Dutton gave his backing to the concept in an interview with London newspaper City A.M. earlier this month, although burdened that the choice to bid for the Tour begin wasn’t as much as the organisation.
“The Tour de France would have a massively constructive affect, it might create unbelievable visibility and it might enable all companions to ship extra social worth over a time frame,” Dutton stated
“It would not simply be in regards to the race coming and going, there’s a large cycle tourism facet.
“It’s not our resolution however it’s why occasions are so essential, and that they are often delivered in a financially sustainable far more than the sum of the elements.”
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Neighbouring nation Ireland, which hosted the Grand Départ in 1998, had submitted an expression of curiosity in bidding to host the Tour in 2026 or 2027.
That bid was withdrawn in January, nevertheless, with the nation’s Department for the Economy citing “Funding reductions this 12 months and a scarcity of certainty in regards to the price range place in future years.”
The price range for a possible British 2027 bid remains to be being labored on, with Dutton sounding constructive about the potential for it coming to fruition.
“The value remains to be within the means of being labored by means of however we’d positively be inside our means and ready to step up and help in opposition to the worth of simply getting extra folks on a motorcycle,” he stated, earlier than shedding some gentle on the place a possible Grand Départ could go to.
“We would love to return to London. We’re taking a look at large inhabitants centres – London, Glasgow, Cardiff and extra,” stated Dutton
“We are doing a mapping train in the mean time on the Tour of Britain to have a look at areas we have not been to beforehand. Hopefully we are able to attain extra folks in additional locations.
“The Tour de France is a industrial organisation and so it’s a challenge led by UK Sport,” he added. “But off the again of the Grand Depart in 2014, which I used to be personally concerned in, and seeing the tens of millions of individuals come to the aspect of the highway and the attain throughout the geography of the UK, we’re absolutely supportive [of its return].”