Apply for grants totalling £20k to host Cambridge cycling activities around the Tour de France this summer

Cambridge County Council is making grants totalling £20,000 for events celebrating the Tour de France’s stop-off in Cambridge.

Anyone planning activities linked to the cycle race, which comes to the city on July 7, can apply for a grant of up to £500, provided they will secure additional funding or community support for their event.

The events should be designed to encourage people to take up cycling and generally advance the legacy of the Tour stage.

Cllr Noel Kavanagh, Cambridgeshire County Council’s cycling tsar, told Cambridge News: “The visit of Le Tour de France to Cambridge and the county next year will be a fantastic occasion. The key for us is to make sure we celebrate the day but also help to support events around Cambridgeshire to ensure the impact of the race spreads far and wide.”

The grants are being awarded in three rounds with application deadlines on January 17, March 7 and April 11. To apply, click here.

In Yorkshire, Harewood House near Leeds will next July play host to a three-day long event, Yorkshire’s Festival of Cycling, timed to coincide with the Tour de France’s Grand Départ.

The festival – announced this morning, coincidentally on Yorkshire Day – will take place from Friday 4 July to Sunday 6 July.

The grounds of the 18th Century stately home, built for the Lascelles family who still own it, feature on the route of Stage 1 of the race as it goes from Leeds to Harrogate, and there will be big screens so visitors can catch all the action.

There will also be led rides to specific locations on the opening two stages of the Tour, as well as a cycling expo, catering, secure bike storage, and camping facilities.

As we reported late last year, Rapha will also host a festival celebrating road cycling in Yorkshire next July – a long weekend of riding, music, films and food to coincide with the start of the Tour de France.

Rapha Tempest will take place from 3 July until 6 July in the grounds of Broughton Hall Estate near Skipton in North Yorkshire, where Rapha have held their Super Cross event. It sits close to the route of stage one of the Tour, which runs from Leeds to Harrogate on Saturday 5 July, and also within a few miles of the course for stage two, which takes place the following day.

For more information on all events planned around the Tour de France in England, click here.