The news that Christian Prudhomme is set to visit Portsmouth
to assess the city’s capabilities in hosting the Tour de France Grand
Départ in 2019 should rightfully be viewed as a positive step in
bringing the race back to the UK.
The city hosted stage five of the 1994 Tour and wishes to entice Tour bosses back to the south coast to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, with the a Grand Départ taking place in the Hampshire city and its twin city of Caen, Normandy, France – the location of the landings in 1944.
But there remains significant hurdles to overcome, and likely strong competition, if Portsmouth is to follow in London’s and Yorkshire’s footsteps in being a UK starting venue of the Grand Boucle.
Let’s start with the positive news. As a rule of thumb, Grand Départs take place in countries outside of France on alternate years (Yorkshire was an exception), and with Düsseldorf hosting the 2017 start, 2019 is the next year when a foreign Grand Départ is up for grabs.
Their bid is hugely hinged on the anniversary and Portsmouth City Council and its supporters have to keep beating that drum to attract ASO.
“It’s important there are links beyond cycling with the people,” Prudhomme said. “As soon as it is possible, we do it [historical link]. But first it’s sport so we can’t do that every year.”
The city hosted stage five of the 1994 Tour and wishes to entice Tour bosses back to the south coast to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, with the a Grand Départ taking place in the Hampshire city and its twin city of Caen, Normandy, France – the location of the landings in 1944.
But there remains significant hurdles to overcome, and likely strong competition, if Portsmouth is to follow in London’s and Yorkshire’s footsteps in being a UK starting venue of the Grand Boucle.
Let’s start with the positive news. As a rule of thumb, Grand Départs take place in countries outside of France on alternate years (Yorkshire was an exception), and with Düsseldorf hosting the 2017 start, 2019 is the next year when a foreign Grand Départ is up for grabs.
Prudhomme is a sucker for anniversaries and, in particular, commemorating the war. The prospect of a joint Grand Départ between two locations of the landings, plus it being the last significant anniversary of the landings in which war veterans will be around to attend, plays very strongly in Portsmouth’s favour.
Their bid is hugely hinged on the anniversary and Portsmouth City Council and its supporters have to keep beating that drum to attract ASO.
“It’s important there are links beyond cycling with the people,” Prudhomme said. “As soon as it is possible, we do it [historical link]. But first it’s sport so we can’t do that every year.”
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