The Tour de France is one of the world’s top global sporting events attracting a TV audience of over 3.5 billion people. Started in 1903, the three-week cycle race travels around France and surrounding countries covering over 3,500km. It attracts teams and riders from around the world and was last held in the UK in 2007 when London and Kent hosted the opening stages.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, said: “I am delighted by the news that Yorkshire will be host to the Tour de France’s Grand Depart in 2014. This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase Yorkshire to the world, bringing yet another world class sporting event to the UK.

“With a global audience of over two billion people watching the Tour de France every year, the backdrop is vital. In Yorkshire you could not ask for more. Some of the most iconic roads and scenery in the country, if not the world are here.”

Kenton Robbins, regional director for the Yorkshire Iinstitute of Directors said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Welcome to Yorkshire who have driven this project forward and which will benefit every part of the region.

“It’s fantastic news for the economy of Yorkshire providing opportunities for manufacturing, services, tourism and commerce. There will be an obvious jobs boost in certain areas but also a ripple effect that will have far reaching benefits.

“From January every business in Yorkshire must prepare itself to bid for the contracts that will be presented. Private and public sector must work together to ensure seamless delivery of this ambitious project that was once a pipe dream.

“To achieve this for 2014 when other high profile European tourism destinations were being considered proves that Yorkshire ranks alongside locations such as Barcelona, Paris and Berlin. This shows just how hard Welcome to Yorkshire has worked to raise the profile of the region as a tourist destination of international standard.”

The Tour de France attracts 12 million spectators along the route in a typical year’s race. 1,200 hotel rooms are reserved each night for the teams, staff, press and tour personnel. There are 4700 hours of TV coverage and 2,000 accredited journalists from around the world attend.

Great. The single-track roads between the smaller villages here in Yorkshire already have enough cyclists

:roll: The clue is in the name. It has no business being anywhere near Yorkshire. Surely the UK has some bike races that could pass that way?