London pulls out of hosting Tour de France Grand Départ in 2017
London will no longer host the start of the Tour de France in 2017 after Transport for London (TfL) pulled out.
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The capital was awarded the right to stage the cycling showpiece for the third time in a decade by race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), after beating bids from Manchester and Glasgow.
But London has now declined to host the Grand Depart after TfL failed to secure the funding it needed to organise and deal with transport disruption while the event takes place.
Leon Daniels, managing director at TfL, said: "We have always said that the return of the Tour was subject to funding. To ensure value for money we must make difficult choices, and on this occasion we have decided that we will not be hosting the Grand Depart in 2017."
In 2007 the Grand Depart cost TfL around £6m, but with cuts anticipated to transport spending later this year, it decided it could no longer afford to host the tournament.