“Back Le Bid” was a campaign by Welcome to Yorkshire, supported by Leeds City Council, to bring the Tour de France Grand Depart to Yorkshire. The campaign was ultimately successful, as the 2014 Grand Depart for Le Tour de France saw stages 1 and 2 take place in God’s Own Country of Yorkshire, to great success, in a memorable and probably the best-ever Grand Depart the world has ever seen.
“Yorkshire needs your support to bring the Tour de France to the county.”
Having the support of the leading cyclists in the World at the time, certainly helped!
“My Mum is from Yorkshire so I’m proud to be backing the Yorkshire 2016 bid! The county would provide a stunning backdrop to the Tour as well as a real test for the competitors, I have fond memories of holidaying in Yorkshire, a lot of my family still live there and it would be fantastic if the world’s greatest cycle race could come to Yorkshire, I’m sure it would host a stunning Grand Départ.”
Mark Cavendish
“It’s special to say you’ve raced the Tour de France, I’m proud to be able to say I have, and I would love to see the Tour come to my home county of Yorkshire. It would be amazing to be part of the peloton racing through the Dales and I hope we can make it happen in 2016.”
Ben Swift