Yorkshire
‘ready to host cycling’s top event’

CYCLIST Bradley Wiggins joined the ranks of Britain’s greatest ever sportsmen after winning the Tour de France.

The 32-year-old punched the air and clapped as he crossed the finish line in the Champs Élysées in Paris, becoming the first Briton ever to win the race.

He completed the final stage three minutes and 21 seconds ahead of Team Sky colleague Chris Froome. It was the first time any British rider had even got on the podium.

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Wiggins said: “This sort of thing happens to other people. You never imagine it happens to you. It’s incredible.”

And the British dominance of this year’s Tour provides “the perfect springboard” for 
bringing the event to Yorkshire, according a Yorkshire cycling legend.

Brian Robinson, 81, the first British rider to win a stage of the Tour in 1958, is backing an audacious bid to bring the famous race to the region.

Speaking at his home in Mirfield, Mr Robinson said: “Here in Yorkshire we’re all ready to go.

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“The money’s in place, the structure’s in place, the countryside’s always been 
there – as good as it gets anywhere.”

The Yorkshire bid is at an advanced stage and a delegation was in Paris this weekend to 
push the plan.

If successful it would mean the county hosting the first two stages followed by a third in a city in the south of England.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire estimate it could generate crowds of two million, generating £300m. Chief executive Gary Verity said: “Yorkshire is the heartland of cycling in this country. We have produced champions like Brian Robinson, Barry Hoban and Malcolm Elliott and we want to bring Le Tour to the county.”

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