UK retired their bid to host the 2026 Grand Depart in Scotland

The British bid to host the Grand Depart of the 2026 Tour de France has been abandoned after UK Sport confirmed that the pursuit of the world's biggest bike race is over. A possibility to host the event in 2027 is still 'in consideration', but doesn't seem very likely either. 

"We are not actively pursuing hosting (the Tour) in 2026," Simon Morton, Deputy CEO at UK Sport said.

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After Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme, and five time Tour winner Bernard Hinault were guests at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow last year, there was widespread speculation that a 2026 Tour start, based around Scotland's largest cities, was already agreed.

Today however, UK Sport chair, Kathryn Grainger, said that "our country faces significant challenges in maintaining its track record of securing and delivering the world's biggest sporting events" and added that the "UK's future pipeline of mega events is tightening."

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