Press Release Mayor pledges most spectacular Grand Départ for the Tour de France
4-7-2007 421 As the Tour de France organisers arrived in the capital today ahead of the London Grand Départ this weekend, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, welcomed the event to London for the first time in its 104 year history. A celebration of the Tour de France and cycling in London began with the Mayor officially opening the Tour de France Permanence and Press Centre at the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands. The Permanence is the base for the race during its visit to London and will house around 2000 media personnel. More than two million people are expected to come and watch the free to view race during the weekend, with one million spectators in London alone. This will bring an estimated £115 million to the London and South East economy and with the event broadcast in almost 200 countries London will be promoted across the world. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: “The Tour de France is a free event and, alongside the race itself, there will be a host of festivals and events taking place across the capital to ensure Londoners and visitors have an unforgettable weekend. “The Tour de France Grand Départ will be the biggest sporting event hosted by London ahead of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games giving a taste of what is to come. London is already famous across the world for hosting world-class events. I believe this will be the most spectacular Grand Départ the Tour has ever seen and the weekend will underline London’s great sporting reputation. “The Tour de France is also a superb opportunity to promote London as a cycling city. The number of people taking to two wheels has soared by 83 per cent over the last seven years. We want the excitement of the Tour de France to encourage even more people to take up cycling." The Prologue on Saturday 7 July will be an eight kilometre (five miles) lap of central London, starting on Whitehall, taking in some of London’s most famous landmarks including Whitehall, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and finishing on the Mall. Stage One, on Sunday 8 July, will start in central London, passing close to a variety of historic and contemporary sites including Big Ben, the London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Gherkin and crossing Tower Bridge close to City Hall. The race will then travel through Bermondsey, Deptford, Greenwich and Erith before heading out into Kent. In Kent the Tour will pass through Dartford, Gravesend, Medway, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Ashford before the stage finish in Canterbury. There are a number of activities being organised to accompany the Tour including the People's Village - an event to celebrate and promote cycling in Hyde Park - and 18 giant screens in the capital so everyone can get a good view of the racing. Plus an additional 11,000 cycle parking spaces for spectators. The Grand Départ takes place during three days: Friday 6 July – Tour de France Opening Ceremony - from 18.00 Trafalgar Square. A spectacular presentation of the riders followed by live music.
Saturday 7 July – Tour de France Prologue - a 7.9km individual sprint around central London: 13.00 Tour de France Publicity Caravan sets off ; 14.00 Riders warm up; 15.00 Race Start; 18.20 Race Ends.
Sunday 8 July Tour de France Stage One - A 203 km stage starting on the Mall in central London through South East London into Kent with the finish in Canterbury: Caravan leaves the Mall at 8.40; Riders leave the Mall at 10.25. In addition, there will be a number of events taking place across London: The People’s Village Hyde Park - A free entry event celebrating and promoting cycling. Taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and featuring French and British food and drink, information about how to get into cycling, entertainment and giant screens to watch the action. Hyde Park Cycling Festival - A free event on Sunday 8 July with cycling activities on a 3.5km section of the Tour de France Prologue course within Hyde Park. The programme includes over 300 elite, international athletes competing in a wide variety of races, from the London Youth Games finalists, to national level youth and women races, showcasing the best British talent. Festivals and Events - On Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 July there will be a huge range of free festivals and events taking place in central London and along the Stage One route in London and Kent. For more details visit www.tourdefrancelondon.com or call 020 7222 1234. Notes to editors The publicity caravan is a huge carnival containing vehicles from the Tour de France’s sponsors. The caravan contains more than 200 vehicles and floats playing music and giving out free gifts to the crowds. The caravan passes one hour before the race and goes everywhere the race goes. Full details of the route for the Tour de France Prologue on Saturday 7 July and Stage One on Sunday 8 July are available at www.tourdefrancelondon.com or by calling 020 7222 1234 London Development Agency is the Mayor of London's agency for driving London's sustainable economic growth. Its job is to make sure London remains a global success story - next year, the next decade and beyond, promoting London as the World City. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is the Government funded Agency responsible for the sustainable economic development and regeneration of the South East of England – the driving force of the UK’s economy. Our aim is to create a prosperous, dynamic and inspirational region by helping businesses compete more effectively, training a highly skilled workforce, supporting and enabling our communities while safeguarding our natural resources and cherishing our rich cultural heritage. The London Grand Départ of the Tour de France has been supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Events Programme, which aims to secure events of strategic importance that deliver a range of lasting benefits. These include economic, social and cultural benefits as well as improving sporting performance by home athletes, encouraging participation and leaving a legacy of facilities and development initiatives. Over 120 sporting events have been staged in the UK through the Programme since 1997. More at www.uksport.gov.uk British Cycling is the internationally recognised governing body of cycling in the UK: running the number one ranked GB cycling team; servicing 20,000 members; and providing thousands of sport and leisure cycling opportunities every year. Visit www.britishcycling.org.uk, www.everydaycycling.com Or contact pressoffice@britishcycling.org.uk Visit London is the official visitor organisation for London. Our role is to promote London as the most exciting city on the planet, targeting domestic and overseas leisure and business visitors as well as Londoners. Visit London works in partnership with the Mayor, the London Development Agency and the tourism industry in London. Canterbury is a world-class destination, with a perfect blend of historic features and modern facilities. To visitors the city is Simply Inspirational, while the rest of the Canterbury district offers fabulous coast and countryside, ensuring that modern-day pilgrims are bound to be spoilt for choice. Kent County Council is rated as a four star authority and is responsible for providing a wide range of services for Kent’s 1.3 million residents. Services provided include roads, schools, social services, libraries, adult education centres, trading standards and planning which affect the daily lives of people living, visiting or working in Kent. Kent is one of the largest counties in England and is widely known as the Garden of England for its stunning countryside. For more information visit: www.kent.gov.uk Medway is one of the biggest and most significant urban areas in the south-east outside London, made up of the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham, and rural outlying areas. Medway Council works in partnership with private, public and voluntary sectors to serve the people of Medway. The council is responsible for an established and successful programme of events, reflecting the area's rich and diverse history. Medway is an integral part of the Thames Gateway and is striving to become the city of learning, culture, tourism and high technology for the gateway. The Royal Parks Agency manages eight Royal Parks across London, balancing the responsibility to conserve and enhance these unique environments with creative policies to encourage access and to increase opportunities for enjoyment, education, entertainment, sport and healthy recreation. These Royal Parks comprise 5000 acres of parkland hosting a rich diversity of wildlife, including many rare and endangered species. The Royal Parks Agency works hard to create living environments where insects, invertebrates, birds and mammals can flourish, as well as making wildlife as accessible as possible to all visitors. Sport England is a non-departmental public body and Lottery distributor which exists to sustain and increase participation in community sport. Through the Tour de France, Sport England is encouraging people to be inspired and get involved in cycling in their local communities. Simply log on to www.sportengland.org/london to find out more about opportunities to take part in cycling where you are. For media enquiries please call Hilary Merrett on 020 7983 4753.
For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000.
For non-media enquiries please call the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.
London is preparing for ''Le Grand Départ'' of the 2007 Tour de France. The route, which will run through the Greenwich Millennium Village, is being prepared for the ''Départ''. The Tour de France will be in London and the South East for the two days of the 7th and 8th of July. The event will start in Trafalgar Square at 15:00 BST (UTC+1).

"I believe this will be the most spectacular Grand Départ the Tour has ever seen and the weekend will underline London’s great sporting reputation," said Ken Livingstone, mayor of London.

The parts of the Tour that London will be hosting are the ''Prologue'' and ''Stage One''. The ''Prologue'' will be on Saturday, the 7th of July, starting in Trafalgar Square at 15:00 BST and finishing at 18:20 BST. ''Stage One'' will be on the following day, starting in Greenwich at 11:00 BST and finishing in Canterbury, Kent.

Over the years the Tour de France has seen 52 British riders; the first being Charley Holland and Bill Burl in 1937. Londoners may get to see today's riders on their two wheels, but they will be followed by 1,500 vehicles, 13,000 policemen and women patrolling the route and 2,300 members of the world press.

During the event many roads will be closed along the route and off it. The official website provides detailed information.