Yorkshire depart for Le Tour 2016?

[marinyork]

The route submitted is a cracking route. I also like craigwend's joke routemaster route.

I'm not really convinced of the need to have it in Yorkshire though, as rich said London to Dover was just about stretching it and it was very nice having it the sections of tours abroad is getting ever more ridiculous. I think what'll probably happen is that you'll get various places desperate for the tourism and prestige - Leeds, York, Hull and Sheffield squabbling over it and not as much focus on the route or trying to promote cycling. Large parts of Yorkshire are after all cycling deserts.

 

[ColinJ]

Well - they are pressing on with the bid!

It wouldn't be so bad for the riders to fly from Leeds-Bradford or Robin Hood airport to France, but it would be a long way to have to transport the Tour's infrastructure.

 

[BalkanExpress]

The 2012 Giro has the first 3 stages in Denmark FFS.

And wasn't there talk about a the Giro eyeing up New York ...or did I just mishear another story about Berlusconi

 

[Sittingduck]

Seems like a dumbass idea, to me. It's called the Tour de France, for a reason!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Seems like a dumbass idea, to me. It's called the Tour de France, for a reason!

The French have no problem with temporarily extending their territory. They often use the terms France and Europe interchangeably so would be pretty serene about a Tour d'Europe, provided, bien entendu, that it was still called the Tour de France. And Électricité de France (that's what the EDF in EDF Energy stands for) are quite happy to dig holes in our roads, even though the electricity they deliver doesn't come from France.

The biggest obstacle to a départ iorquechirais would be getting all the road-based infrastructure back to the continent without a big delay. Anyway, I wish Yorkshire all the best with their bid.

 

[DCLane]

It's a half-decent idea, particularly as the start is likely to be right outside my office window

 

[oldroadman]

186 (300km) miles first full stage - not a chance. 200-210 more like it. No one will race that far on the first day of a 3 week race, and any ideas that proper climbers will be much challenged by any pennine/dales climbs is for laughs, surely, as anyone who has even ridden up the climbs in the Alps, Massif or Pyrenees - let alone raced up them - can tell you. The last 300km stage in this country was the bright idea of the Kelloggs Tour organisers. The race simply started steady in Newcastle, kept about 35 km/hr apart from a few climbs where the climbers had a little go, descended steady and regrouped, and finally raced the last 45 minutes or so. The race schedule suggested 7 hours 20 minutes for the stage. In fact starting at midday in Newcastle, the finish was almost in the dark in Manchester, at 20.45, all 8 hours 45 minutes later.
Rider power, you see, the patrons of the peloton decreed what should happen, and everyone agreed to save their energy. Monster stages at the start of a stage race simply do not work.
Around 5 hours is OK, and there are UCI regulations for average and maximum distances, which someone who proposed this silly idea has obviously never bothered to read.

 

[johnr]

Given that the only competition is Barcelona, Venice, Berlin etc I think Brid's a shoo in!