A British bid to host the Grand Departure of the 2026 Tour de France has been abandoned after UK Sport confirmed that the pursuit of the world's biggest cycling race has been downgraded to just an “opportunity” in 2027.
Simon Morton, deputy chief executive at UK Sport, said: “We are not actively seeking to host (the Tour) in 2026.”
Although Stuart Andrew of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and British Cycling's chief executive, John Dutton, recently stated that feasibility studies are “ongoing”, the attempt to bring the Tour back to Britain is very much on hold.
The news comes after growing speculation that the bid – announced in Rishi Sunak's Autumn 2021 Budget – was in trouble, with uncertainty now surrounding the use of a £30m package aimed at hosting more global events in Britain.
After Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme and five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault were guests at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow last year, there was widespread speculation that the start of the 2026 Tour, focused on Glasgow and Edinburgh, had already been agreed.
However, in the intervening months, the cost of living crisis, the political uncertainty surrounding Prime Minister Sunak's future, as well as the climate facing government-funded sporting events, and Saudi Arabia's growing influence in global sport, all appear to have combined against the government. Show 2026.
In October 2021, Brian Visser, CEO of British Cycling, said: “We are delighted to support the UK Government’s bid to bring the great sporting event back to these shores in 2026.”
“We look forward to working alongside the UK Government, the devolved administrations and UK Sport to deliver a compelling vision for the 2026 Grand Departure…”
However, UK Sport chief Catherine Grainger said today that “our country faces significant challenges in maintaining its track record of securing and delivering the world’s biggest sporting events” and added that “the future pipeline of major events in the UK is shrinking”.
Although the location of the Grand Departure for the 2026 Tour has yet to be confirmed, both Rotterdam and Barcelona have been touted, despite the Dutch city hosting the opening stages of this year's Tour de France.
With British Cycling looking to boost their hopes of saving the men's and women's Tours of Britain, a major departure in 2026 would have been good news. However, sources at British Cycling remain optimistic and have indicated there will be “no impact” on efforts to restart both races.
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