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Newcastle City Council to support bid to bring Tour de France to North East of England

Gateshead Council already backs idea of bringing Tour start to region, but no bid date set yet

Newcastle City Council has thrown its weight behind plans to bring the Grand Départ of the Tour de France to the North East of England, reports Chroniclelive.co.uk.

It joins Tyneside neighbour Gateshead Council in wanting to secure the opening days of the race, which this year began in Yorkshire and brought the area an economic benefit estimated at in excess of £100 million.

Councillor Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “Bringing the Tour de France to the North East is an excellent idea.

“Newcastle already has a growing reputation for hosting international sporting events such as Olympic football, the world’s biggest half marathon, the Great North Run and of course the Rugby World Cup later this year.

“I am sure if we put our minds to it, the councils in the region could work together to be a serious contender at least.”

His fellow councillor Rob Higgins, described as a keen cyclist, is calling on other councils in the region to get involved, and is also looking to set up talks with officials from the French consulate in Newcastle to gain their support.

But he said that money from the private sector would be needed if the event were to be brought to the North East.

“Having spent two wonderful days in Yorkshire last summer witnessing the wonderful colourful spectacle of the Tour de France I am determined that we should now make a huge effort to bring this event to the North East,” he commented.

“The event in Yorkshire attracted 4.8m people over the three days. Almost half of those were visitors to the region and generated an immediate direct financial benefit of £102m.”

When Gateshead Council published its draft culture plan last year, the Tour de France featured on a list of events that could be brought to the area over the next two and a half decades.

With London and Kent having hosted the Grand Départ in 2007 and Yorkshire doing so last year, it is likely to be at least several years until the Tour returns to the UK, however.

Any bid to host it in North East England are likely to face rival proposals from Edinburgh, which missed out to Yorkshire but is still keen to stage the Grand Départ, plus other cities keen to replicate last year’s success.

“Were it to become a real possibility then this would need to fit into the itinerary of the Tour and would be some years down the road,” Councillor Higgins commented.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

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LaserFrennox_ | 9 years ago
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Hopefully it'll persuade the council to invest into cycling infrastructure, for once.

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big mick replied to LaserFrennox_ | 9 years ago
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LaserFrennox_ wrote:

Hopefully it'll persuade the council to invest into cycling infrastructure, for once.

Don't hold your breath  29

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LaserFrennox_ replied to big mick | 9 years ago
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I know. But we can only hope.

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Al__S | 9 years ago
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Seems to be some talk on twitter that the idea is to join onto an Edinburgh bid.

Edinburgh-Newcastle via Jedburgh would be ~170-180km with a good summit right at the border. I reckon that would make a good stage.

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gazza_d | 9 years ago
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A stage through Northumberland ending in Newcastle city centre would be wonderful.

I would love to also see a stage with Newcastle as the start winding though the North Pennines, through Alston & over Hartside Pass, and then with the final climb up Great Dun Fell to the radar station.

That could become England's Mount Ventoux.

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mrchrispy replied to gazza_d | 9 years ago
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gazza_d wrote:

.... and then with the final climb up Great Dun Fell to the radar station.

Often though of a big race hitting great dun fell but logistics would be a nightmare.....wicked climb though! Love to see the pros hit it hard!

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Chasseur Patate replied to gazza_d | 9 years ago
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Stage 1: Start at Lindisfarne, cross the causeway, down the coast past Bamburgh and Amble, across to Rothbury, Bellingham and Wark, back over the Ryals, Gosforth, central motorway, Tyne bridge finish. Perfect Stage one of a GT.

Stage 2:

gazza_d wrote:

A stage through Northumberland ending in Newcastle city centre would be wonderful.

I would love to also see a stage with Newcastle as the start winding though the North Pennines, through Alston & over Hartside Pass, and then with the final climb up Great Dun Fell to the radar station.

That could become England's Mount Ventoux.

Done. Make it so.

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mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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Would be a pretty awesome run in through Gosforth, onto the central motorway along to a finish on the Tyne Bridge, it'd be blisteringly fast!

then again they could could always go via cowgate...that'd be pretty but only because they wanted to get the hell outta there!!

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ajmarshal1 replied to mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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mrchrispy wrote:

Would be a pretty awesome run in through Gosforth, onto the central motorway along to a finish on the Tyne Bridge, it'd be blisteringly fast!

then again they could could always go via cowgate...that'd be pretty but only because they wanted to get the hell outta there!!

Awesome.

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pubcyclist | 9 years ago
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I really hope this works out, good luck !
They could have a couple of great stages up here and people would really get behind it.  36

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farrell | 9 years ago
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They'd absolutely love this in Newcastle.

I mean, virtually every bleeding team is wearing black and white stripes so the support is guaranteed up there.

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Stumps | 9 years ago
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The finish has to be on the Tyne Bridge, a straight route down the CME and onto the bridge, it would probably be one of the most iconic stage finishes.

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lukea-d | 9 years ago
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The Team Valley for the finish: Champs Elysee of the North East!

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captain_slog | 9 years ago
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Bring it on. Imagine the peloton streaming across the Tyne bridge: what a sight.

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dotdash | 9 years ago
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Instead of a yellow jersey Gazza could present a yellow dressing gown, some fried chicken and a can of beer.

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Leodis | 9 years ago
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The sprint finish could take place in the Metro centre

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ianrobo replied to Leodis | 9 years ago
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Leodis wrote:

The sprint finish could take place in the Metro centre

Is that so they can sprint away from those kids looking to nick their bikes ?

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joemmo | 9 years ago
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It would be good if they could throw their weight behind their own plans to build some decent cycle infrastructure. I'll not be holding my breath.

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