Latest news with #GrandDepart
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Queensbury Tunnel cycleway plan too costly, say government
Campaigners hoping to convert a former railway tunnel into a cycle-way have been told the passage is to be made "permanently inaccessible" after the proposal was deemed too a letter to the Queensbury Tunnel Society, transport minister Lilian Greenwood said work to transform the tunnel, which is maintained by National Highways, did not offer "best value for the public purse" in a "challenging fiscal environment".She said, as a result, she was in favour of work to "stabilise the tunnel shafts", which campaigners say would bring an end to their hopes of transforming it into a walking and cycling route linking Bradford, Halifax and McWilliam, leader of the Queensbury Tunnel Society, said: "The government is making an investment in destruction to satisfy the needs of a roads body that only cares about its own narrow interests." National Highways inherited the 1.4mile (2.2km) long tunnel after the privatisation of British Rail and abandonment would reduce its of the tunnel as a greenway was first proposed as a Tour de France legacy scheme in 2014 after the Grand Depart of the world-famous cycle race was held in 2018 and 2021 National Highways spent £7.2m on strengthening the tunnel, saying the work would "prevent further uncontrolled collapses, ensuring that any future plans for the re-use of the structure can be realised".Campaigners say work to complete the project would cost in the region of £16m.A feasibility study, published by cycle charity Sustrans earlier this year, found that the route would improve local connectivity and generate £3 in social, economic and tourism benefits for every £1 spent on McWilliam said: "Why are National Highways managing structures like Queensbury Tunnel, why are the government not shifting responsibility for the tunnel and other historic infrastructure to a department who really understand the public benefits of greenways and how to repurpose heritage structures?" A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "Given the continued deterioration of the Queensbury Tunnel, and in the absence of local funding to develop it as a transport link, National Highways has been instructed to carry out works to maintain public safety."This has been a difficult decision but ultimately, we have a responsibility to safety and delivering value for the taxpayer".West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, who previously campaigned for the tunnel to be reopened said while she shared the disappointment of campaigners she understood the government's said: "The Government had to act quickly to secure the site, and the realities of public finances meant a difficult decision needed to be made."In 2024 Bradford Council said that while it was "supportive of restoring the tunnel in principle" it was unlikely to be able to fund further and would instead focus on other active travel are due to meet with Greenwood in London later this month to discuss her decision. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Mind games, sacrifice and 'big cojones' - what it takes to win Tour de France
The Tour de France resumes on Wednesday at stage 11 with still close to a fortnight left of racing to come and the competition finely poised ahead of the big climbs in the mountains Over 3,338 kilometres. 21 stages. 23 days. One yellow jersey. Few events in the sporting calendar - if any - are as gruelling, as brutal, as unforgiving, as the Tour de France. 184 riders lined up at the start of this year's race - the Grand Depart in Lille. But only one can be crowned king of the mountain. And while the fortunes of each and every cyclist will be laid bare out on the road and on our TV screens, there is just as much drama, emotion, pressure and bravado brimming off the tarmac behind the scenes as there is on it - with complex mind games, heart-wrenching sacrifices, and a festering friction between cyclists who are prepared to stare death in the face and risk everything for their ultimate shot at glory. One person who has bore close witness to the carnage - from in front of the camera as one of the faces of cycling broadcasting, to the raw and uncut scenes away from it - is TNT presenter Orla Chennaoui, who even as a keen cyclist herself, admits she'd never do it "in a million years". "It really is survival of the fittest," Chennaoui told Mirror Sport. "It is a test of the absolute best in the world. For anyone who's not used to watching bike racing it's hard to fathom just how dangerous it is, how difficult it is to hold your nerve in the middle of a bike race of 184 riders where everyone is within a whispering distance of each other, one slight touch of the wheel and that is it, game over, race over." Chennaoui has been at the forefront of elite cycling for over a decade - first as a correspondent for Sky Sports, before her switch to Eurosport (now TNT) as lead presenter in 2019. Aside from the small matter of two Olympic Games and one Commonwealth Games, she has covered every gear change from the Tour de France to the Giro d'Italia, multiple times over. Put simply: she has seen it all. So what are her thoughts on the "world cup" of bike racing? "It's funny," she says. "It looks really simple, like a load of cyclists riding from A to B every day but there are so many subplots and that's what makes the sport so fascinating. As soon as you scratch the surface and realise how many different narratives there are. That's why I fell in love with it. "The bit that I find the most interesting is all of the work that is done behind the scenes. All the months of sacrifice, all the work from their teams, all the weeks spent at altitude away from their families, the weighing of food portions coming into Tour de France so they can accurately calculate what start weight they will be. "When a rider wins we get to hear about those sacrifices, the wives and partners left at home, the babies who have been born in their absence. But that's the same for every rider, for them to even get to the start line it takes that sacrifice, never mind to finish or win a stage. Its phenomenal." After 10 stages of this year's Tour thus far, the race is currently led by Ireland's Ben Healy, marginally ahead of favourite and defending champion Tadej Pogacar, while Britain's Simon Yates claimed the last stage win in Puy de Sancy. To keep things cosy, Yates is on the same team as Jonas Vingegaard, the main rival to Pogacar, who is team-mates with Yates's brother Adam. But life on the road is not all happy families. "Professional cycling has become such a polite sport where everyone looks like they're really good friends but as soon as there's any kind of sledging or mind games, we all jump on it and we're trying just trying to work out how much of it is at the tip of the iceberg," Chennaoui explains. "We had a professional rider in at the start of this race, Michael Matthews, and we were saying, 'all the riders are such good friends', and he said, 'don't believe that for a second. They're really not.'" In a sport where every second matters, it's easy to understand why. But Chennoui insists ego is not the overriding characteristic. "It takes an awful lot of confidence and self belief," she says. "Even more than ego necessarily. One stage the first hour of racing was 50km per hour. With no padding, no protective clothing. It's like jumping out of your car in your underwear." Speeds can hit 100km/h down the descents and around 70km/h on a sprint finish when rubbing shoulder to shoulder with rivals to the line. "You're really on a knife edge. They have to believe in themselves so much to not question themselves or have doubts because that itself can bring you off your bike. It's terrifying. Cyclists need big cojones." For every cyclist pushing themselves to the limit, there is a team behind the team, while the methods used in pursuit of marginal gains continue to get more creative. "The amount of testing and tech which goes into it now - scientification is 10 times what it was before," Chennaoui said. "There is one team who have access to an old railway tunnel and that's where they do their wind tunnel testing. So they're riding under this old disused tunnel underground and measuring the wind flow, the aerodynamics of the skin suit, of the bike, of the body position. "They'll spend hours doing this, and hours in a lab, as well, working out the exact scientific proportion of everything. If you look at any random stage, certainly a time trial, you will see the most ridiculous helmets that look like they were designed as a joke and they all look different, but that's all because of the aerodynamics and all the money that goes into it." It's not uncommon for leading cyclists to try their best to avoid wearing the Tour-supplied yellow jersey on early stages during the race, purely because it would mean they wouldn't be able to wear their own specially designed skinsuit. "It's a really pure sport because it's just athlete and bike, but actually there's an awful lot of science that goes into it as well when it comes to nutrition, rest and recovery… every element has been thought of." This year's race is perfectly poised as the riders prepare to set off on stage 11 on Wednesday after the first of only two rest days throughout the event. The action will then build towards a "showdown in the mountains" on stages 18 and 19 where the Tour truly separates the best from the rest. "We have 10,000 metres of climbing within two days which is disgusting. That comes at the very back end of the race when most normal humans are on their knees anyway. The riders are racing for four or five hours every single day, they get two days off in the 23 days, they've got 21 stages to race and so by stages 18 and 19, they've travelled thousands of kilometres, they've had umpteen nights of broken sleep and bad recovery, anyone who has crashed at that stage and had an injury or an illness they're on the limit of their immune system because their levels have become so lean and on a knife-edge with their health that any little infection can really send them off course." The hilly stages of the course then come to an end in time for the finale - a flat run of 132.3km from Mantes-La-Ville into Paris and the finish line on the Champs-Elysee. It could well be a sprint to the line for those still in contention, but Chennaoui expects whoever reigns coming over the mountain will likely be the man to beat on July 27. "You can only survive those stages anyway if you are an exceptional athlete but to be able to win in those stages, then we're talking your Tour de France winners." So who does Chennaoui fancy to take the coveted yellow jersey in less than a fortnights' time? "Still the smart money is on Tadej. But everyone is unbeatable until they're not. We don't know when that moment is going to come. "The punchy terrain suits Tadej, but Jonas has been right up there with him apart from the time trial and he usually excels in the higher mountains that come later in the race. They have created the greatest rivalry in the 112-year history of the Tour de France. So it's perfectly poised for a showdown in the mountains - and entire races can just flip on their head in one moment. "A lot of people are rooting for Jonas because they want the tightest possible race until the last moment and even though I say stages 18 and 19 are where this race will be won, we ride into Paris on the last day. If Tadej Pogacar is within a couple of seconds of the lead, I foresee that he'll be racing for general classification all the way to the line in Paris. So this race could literally go right to the wire which hasn't happened very much." And while the rest of us will be gripped to our seats watching the action unfold, Chennaoui and the TNT team have the tricky task of translating what happens out on the road to all the viewers watching on TV. "For us in the studio, we know that the majority of UK fans are coming to the Tour de France as their only bike race all year so it's our job to make it as entertaining and exciting as possible. So much of sport is taken so seriously and it is serious business for those involved. But if it's not fun to watch, then we're all missing a trick."
Reuters
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Crowds gather in Lille as Tour de France kicks off
Cycling fans turned out in numbers in the northern French city of Lille on Saturday (July 5) as star cyclists from around the world kicked off the Tour de France at the Grand Depart.
Newsweek
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
How to Watch Tour de France 2025 Stage 1: Live Stream Cycling, TV Channel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The 2025 Tour de France is about to kick off! This year's Grand Depart returns to France after a trio of foreign starts, with the peloton rolling out from Lille on July 5 for a 185 km anticlockwise loop that's very flat, giving a big advantage to the sprinters. XDS Astana Team's Italian rider Davide Ballerini (C) and UAE Team Emirate - XRG team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar (R) cycle with the pack of riders (peloton) during the 1st stage of the 112th edition... XDS Astana Team's Italian rider Davide Ballerini (C) and UAE Team Emirate - XRG team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar (R) cycle with the pack of riders (peloton) during the 1st stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 184.9 km starting and finishing in Lille Metropole, northern France, on July 5, 2025. More Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images How to Watch Tour de France 2025 Stage 1 When: Saturday, July 5, 2025 Time: 8:30 PM ET Where: Lille, France TV Channel: NBC Live Stream: Fubo (Get a free trial!) This stage won't include the traditional climbing, as it is classified as flat, with just under 1,200 meters of elevation gain and three category four climbs sprinkled along the way: Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (1 km at 7.6%), Mont Cassel (1.9 km at 3.6%), and Mont Noir (1.3 km at 6.4%). These bumps in the road will give breakaway hopefuls a chance to snag the first polka dot jersey, but the real action is likely to come in the final kilometers, where the sprinters' teams will be working overtime to reel everyone back in. The finish line on Boulevard Vauban in Lille is as straight as they come, setting the stage for a high-speed bunch sprint. With 50 green jersey points up for grabs at the finish, expect top sprinters like Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay to be right in the mix. Girmay, in particular, is chasing history—he could become the first Black African rider to wear the yellow jersey if he nabs the win. Live stream Tour de France 2025 Stage 1 on Fubo: Watch the event now! Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.
The Independent
05-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France 2025 live: Grand Depart start time and stage 1 route as sprinters set for battle on streets of Lille
A star-studded peloton are set for a three-week battle royale over lumps, bumps and mountains as the Tour de France gets underway. This year's Grand Depart is held in Lille in northern France with stage one beginning and ending in the city near the border with Belgium. It is territory with which plenty of the riders will be familiar from Paris-Roubaix, though the cobbles to be negotiated today are nothing like as punishing, with a fast and furious sprint finish anticipated. For riders like Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan, this will be a golden opportunity to take the first yellow jersey. But could there be a surprise in store? Defending champion Tadej Pogacar has redefined many of the sport's traditional parameters and could yet launch a surprise bid for victory here, even on flat terrain – with fellow general classification giants Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel for company, a thrilling three weeks could well be in store... Tour de France Stage 1 live 2025 Tour de France gets underway with the Grand Depart held in Lille | Live on TNT Sports and ITV Defending champion Tadej Pogacar and rival Jonas Vingegaard are the favourites 2018 winner Geraint Thomas is competing in his final Tour Sprinters are set to do battle for first yellow jersey on flat run-in to Lille Tour de France 2025 The 2025 Tour de France will be the 112th edition of the race, as Tadej Pogacar aims to defend the yellow jersey and win the fourth Tour of his career. The route begins in Lille, Normandy before making a clockwise route around France, via the Pyrenees and then the Alps, before the finale in Paris. The race will return to its roots with all 21 stages taking place in its homeland, the first exclusively French Tour for five years. This will be the last year that the famous race is shown live on free-to-air TV in the UK, for the forseeable future, after TNT Sports bought exclusive rights. Flo Clifford5 July 2025 11:03
