Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce £30 million of funding in Wednesday’s Budget for UK sporting bids, including the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ. The 2021 Autumn Budget, which is the second of the year after the previous announcement in March, is to be delivered on Wednesday 27th October alongside the Spending Review.
£700 million has already been confirmed to improve sports and youth clubs.
The 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ bid is included, alongside one for hosting the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, previously held in England in 2010.
Sunak said ‘Britain is world-beating in both rugby and cycling, and bringing these events home will allow thousands of people to see the next generation of British sporting heroes.’
2014 marked the last time that the Tour de France staged its Grand Départ in England – the only other time having been in 2007.
Stage 1 from Leeds to Harrogate resulted in a crash-marked finale from which Marcel Kittel reigned victorious.
The now-retired German held the first yellow jersey into the second stage from York to Sheffield, where it swapped shoulders to Vincenzo Nibali.
The then-Astana rider would go on to win the general classification by over seven minutes from AG2R La Mondiale’s Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot of FDJ.
Kittel sprinted to victory on Stage 3 into London ahead of Peter Sagan before the peloton departed for France.
The 2022 Tour de France will begin with an individual time-trial in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Upon its conclusion in Paris, the inaugural edition of the Tour de France Femmes will commence.