Yorkshire launches major bid for Tour de France
Published: 28 May 2011
Yorkshire is launching an audacious bid to host the opening stages of the 2016 Tour de France.
Detailed talks have been taking place for a number of months and have included a bid team led by destination management organisation Welcome to Yorkshire, visiting the Paris offices of the Tour's organising committee to present Yorkshire's credentials.
Those talks centred around the Grand Départ - the opening two days of racing - which are held in a new location outside France every two years.
The route submitted for consideration proposes Leeds city centre as the starting destination from which the 22 teams would weave their way to the Yorkshire Dales, head east to Scarborough and the coast, via York and the North York Moors, before dropping south to Hull and finally to Sheffield. The racing would be spread over two days covering 180kms a day with Leeds hosting a festival of music and entertainment in the city centre to welcome the teams and the Tour's considerable entourage.
More talks are due to take place next month and plans are underway for the Tour de France organisers to visit Yorkshire to see the proposed route.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: "I can confirm that we are having advanced talks to host the Tour de France. Those in depth discussions are ongoing but I can reveal Yorkshire's bid has been positively received by the organising committee at this stage.
'Yorkshire is a world class destination experienced at successfully hosting world class events and we believe it will provide the perfect backdrop to the world's greatest cycle race, producing the best international Grand Départ the Tour de France has seen yet."
Yorkshire has a proud history for hosting world sporting events. It recently held the World Snooker at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, the cross country leg of the Mountain Bike World Cup and is due to host the Olympic Torch relay next year for six days. Last summer it hosted an Ashes Test at Headingley and Hull was the location for the start of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. All of which have been sponsored by, and supported by, Welcome to Yorkshire.
If successful, the county would benefit to the tune of tens of millions of pounds of extra visitor spend and be the focus of a worldwide television audience of over two billion people. Over 185 countries around the world show the Tour de France every year on 92 different television channels with the last hour of every stage broadcast live across Western Europe.
Cllr Keith Wakefield, the leader of Leeds City Council said: "This is one of the most famous sporting events in the world and Leeds would be incredibly proud to host the Grand Départ. As one of the UK's most famous sporting cities I know our businesses and residents would embrace, support and celebrate the city hosting such a spectacular sporting event. The teams, riders and visitors from across the world would receive a warm Leeds welcome and I am sure that would stay with them as they made their way across Yorkshire."
Gary Verity added: "The economic impact for Yorkshire will be tremendous and we will do everything we can to make sure the event comes here."
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Editors' Notes:
The Tour de France
The Tour de France is one of the world's top global sporting events attracting a TV audience of over two billion people. Started in 1903 the three week cycle race travels around France and surrounding countries covering over 3,600km. It attracts teams and riders from around the world and was last held in the UK in 2007 when London and Kent hosted the opening stages.
According to the main backer of the 2007 English start, Transport for London, the Tour is estimated to have brought £88m to south-east England and to have generated £35m worth of media coverage. Spectator numbers were estimated at more than two million over the two days of racing and cycle journeys in the capital increased by more than 10% after the Tour's visit.
TOUR DE FRANCE STATS:
• The Tour de France attracts 15 million spectators along the route in a typical year's race
• 1,200 hotel rooms are reserved for the teams, staff, press and tour personnel
• There are 2,400 hours of TV coverage
• 3,800 accredited journalists from around the world attend
About Welcome to Yorkshire
• Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism agency for Yorkshire, working to grow the county's visitor economy.
• Welcome to Yorkshire is funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
• Key facts include:
• Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually
• The county's industry employs almost a quarter of a million people
• There are 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year
For more news and a free image bank www.yorkshire.com/mediacentre
For further information contact:
Dee Marshall - Head of Communications
Email: dmarshall@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223505
Mobile: 07950 325 901