Yorkshire to Host Start of 2014 Tour de France

The start of the 2014 Tour de France will be in Yorkshire.

It will be the first time the sport’s most prestigious race has been held in the north of England and the first time in the UK since 2007.

The county will host the opening two stages, on July 5 and 6, before the race moves south for a third day that will finish in London.

The Grand Départ will be held in Leeds, which will also hold a festival of cycling to coincide with the arrival of the Tour.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, the agency behind the county’s bid, said: “Today is a proud day for everyone involved in the bid and the county as a whole. We are honoured that the race organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation [ASO], have selected Yorkshire to be the host location of the 2014 Grand Départ.

“Yorkshire is a passionate county of proud people and I am sure they will guarantee that their Grand Départ raises the bar in terms of expectations for all future hosts to come.”

The county had initially campaigned to host the race in 2016, but their bid was received warmly by the Tour’s organisers, who brought it forward two years after being impressed by Yorkshire’s “outstanding beauty”.

The other regions in the running were Edinburgh, Scotland, and Florence, Italy.

The details of the Grand Depart and the stages it will include will be revealed in January.

An ASO statement said: “The organisers of the Tour de France are pleased to announce that the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2014 will take place in the United Kingdom in the county of Yorkshire, before heading to London for a stage finish.

“After an outstanding 2012 for British cycling, marked by the historical victory of Bradley Wiggins on the Tour de France, the United Kingdom will again hold pride of place in 2014.”