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After staging yesterday’s Olympic time trials and last weekend’s road races, Surrey is to bid to host a stage of a forthcoming Tour de France.
BikeBiz has learnt that although discussions are still in early stages, the idea was mooted from March, when discussions began.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Surrey to watch cycling stars, including medal winners Bradley Wiggins, Lizzie Armitstead and Chris Froome, compete at the London 2012 Olympics.
Staging the Surrey sections of the Olympic cycle races and time trials was no mean feat. It took 42 miles of roadside barriers, 5,000 cones, 4,000 road signs and 545 road closures – plus 6,000 stewards, volunteers and workers.
Two years of careful preparation meant roads were reopened either ahead of schedule or on time, said the Council.
"Surrey has been the epicentre of world cycling over the past few days, cementing the county’s reputation as a world class place to ride," leader of Surrey County Council David Hodge. "We’re looking at putting together a bid to host a stage of the Tour de France to build on the success of the Olympic cycle races. In September, we’ll be welcoming elite cycling back to Surrey when we host a stage of the Tour of Britain.”
“We’ve had huge crowds supporting the Olympic cyclists in recent days. People have been fantastic and showed their enthusiasm for the sport. Thanks to everyone’s efforts disruption was kept to a minimum and we showed Surrey off to the world. I’m delighted that by hosting these events Surrey played its part in helping Team GB’s medal winners create Olympic history on our doorsteps.
“I’d like to thank the people of Surrey for their patience and understanding during the last few days. I hope they enjoyed seeing such wonderful Olympic events for free in their neighbourhoods. The success of the events is also down to organisations across Surrey including the police and borough and district councils working closely together."
Surrey’s dedicated Olympic website gosurrey.info was visited around 200,000 times during the three event days in the county.
Pic courtesy of Surrey County Council.
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