YORKSHIRE AND THE TOUR DE FRANCE

That this House welcomes the Back le Bid campaign, established by Welcome to Yorkshire, to bring the Tour de France to Yorkshire; notes theTour is the world's largest annual sporting event with 88 million people watching worldwide, making a successful Yorkshire bid an opportunity to showcase Yorkshire globally and provide a multi-million pound boost to the regional and national economy; further notes that it is five years since the Tour de France last came to Britain, with the 2007 competitors setting off from central London; further notes that the campaign has the support of British cycling stars Mark Cavendish, a Tour de France veteran, and Ben Swift; and so adds its support to Yorkshire's hosting the initial stage of the 2016 Tour de France, which would, like the London2012 Olympics, the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2014 Ryder Cup, the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup and the 2017 World Athletics Championship, further bolster Britain's standing as one of the great sporting nations.