PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
TOUR DE FRANCE LE GRAND DÉPART 2014 (6 July 2014)

That this House celebrates the success of the Le Grand Départ of the 101st Tour de France and the first three stages, Leeds to Harrogate, York to Sheffield and Cambridge to London; echoes comments that this was the grandest Grand Départ in the history of the Tour; congratulates Welcome to Yorkshire and its CEO, Gary Verity, for a successful bid, supported by Leeds City Council and others; thanks race director Christian Prudhomme for his faith in Yorkshire's bid; congratulates Sir Rodney Walker and Nicky Roche and TdFHub2014Ltd, councils along the route and the 12,000 volunteer Tour Makers for delivering three fantastic stages of the race; agrees that this has been a wonderful advertisement for Yorkshire and the UK, boosting local economies and the UK economy by at least £100 million; further congratulates local communities, businesses, farms, hotels, pubs, cafes, restaurants, places of worship and community and village halls who all worked hard to provide entertainmnet, food, drink and fun for spectators; notes that over four and a half milion people are estimated to have lined the route across the three days; hopes that Le Grand Départ 2014 will inspire the next generation of UK cycling stars and welcomes the new annual three-day Tour of Yorkshire race starting next year; believes that a real legacy must and will be delivered, including through concerted strategies to get more people cycling in the UK and improvements for cyclists on our roads; and sends its best wishes to the competitors, organisers and all involved for the remainder of Le Tour 2014.

Sponsored by:
Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat)