North Yorkshire Council

Executive

12 May 2025

Tour of Britain 2026 and 2027

Report of the Corporate Director – Environment

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 To seek approval from the Executive to allocate £200,000 (£100k per annum) funding towards the operational costs associated with the delivery of the Tour of Britain Cycling Race in 2026 and 2027.

2.0       SUMMARY

2.1       The report provides an update on the decision made by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) to host a stage of the Tour of Britain Cycling Race in 2026 and 2027.

2.2       The report provides an overview of the how the event will be funded, including a request for an allocation for £200K of funding (£100k in 2026/27 and £100k in 2027/28) from corporate reserves to act as the Council’s contribution to the event.

2.3       An overview of the roles and responsibilities of North Yorkshire Council in delivering the event is also provided.

3.0       BACKGROUND

3.1 YNYCA agreed at their March 2026 meeting to fund the hosting of two stages of the Tour of Britain Cycling Race, one in each of 2026 and 2027. 

3.2       YNYCA have agreed with British Cycling to host a full stage of the men’s Tour of Britain race in 2026 and a future stage in 2027.  The men’s race is due to take place between 02 and 06 September 2026.

3.3       As with previous cycle events, there is a requirement to pay a hosting fee to the race organisers as well as covering a range of operational costs associated with hosting the event.

3.4       The Combined Authority has confirmed that it will fund the hosting fee for both stages, which accounts to £350K.  This will be funded from the Mayoral Investment Fund.

3.5 In addition the combined authority has allocated a further budget of £100K per race for operational costs.  Again, this is funded from the Mayoral Investment Fund. There is a requirement for North Yorkshire Council to contribute to operational costs, with a further £100k of funding per race (£200K total) requested.

3.6       North Yorkshire has a strong recent history of hosting major international cycling races over the past 12 years, with stages of the Tour de France, Tour de Yorkshire, Tour of Britain (men and women) as well as the UCI Road World Cycling Championships, all being successfully hosted in the County.

4.0       BENEFITS OF HOSTING THE RACE

4.1       The combined authority has identified a range of benefits of hosting the race, that link to wider economic and social objectives which are outlined below

· Promotion of Active Travel

· Inward investment and place promotion

· Economic development

4.2       Previous events have shown the benefits of hosting large scale events, particularly around press and media coverage.  The race is broadcast in 100+ countries with free to air coverage planned in the UK.  Additionally, events can act as a catalyst for community based activities and can enhance a sense of pride in the local area.

5.0       PROPOSED ROUTE

5.1       Discussions are ongoing with British Cycling to understand proposed host locations and routes.  It is the intention that the full route remains within North Yorkshire.  It is our understanding that British Cycling are looking at proposed routes for 2026 that are hilly in order to provide a challenging route for the riders and an entertaining sporting spectacle.  2027 route design would commence early in 2027.

5.2       NYC and YNYCA officers will be involved in the route design and selection process to ensure that disruption to the wider transport network (both road and rail) is minimised as much as possible whilst also ensuring the objectives of a challenging race route are met.  A range of start and finish location proposals are being looked at including locations that are on private land.  The route will not include any roads within City of York.

5.3       The vast majority of the stages will be managed under rolling road closures which are typically in place for less than 30 minutes.  Dependent on the start and finish locations, there may be a requirement for longer road closures to enable the safe build, operation and removal of the start and finish locations.  Additionally dependent on the race route, there may be longer closures on some climbs and other sections of the route to ensure event safety.  Parking suspensions will be in place across the race route.

5.4       NYC officers have provided recommendations on possible areas the route could go and just as importantly advised on locations the route should avoid. The date of the North Yorkshire stage falls within the last weekend of the school summer holidays 2026, therefore is likely to have implications on key tourism businesses and destinations.

6.0       ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

6.1       NYC has effectively been put forward by YNYCA as the local delivery partner for both races (2026 and 2027) to work alongside British Cycling.  NYC would be responsible for the delivery of the operational requirements associated with hosting the race as outlined by British Cycling within their hosting agreements with the Combined Authority.

6.2       Roles and responsibilities are split down to three distinct areas, Start, race route and finish.

6.3       Start requirements include the following

· Parking area for team vehicles

· Start straight and technical area adjacent to the start area

· First Aid provision for spectators

· Policing support

· NYC staff / project lead on site

· Stewarding 15-20 trained paid stewards

· Supply of toilets

· Barriers for crowd management in team parking area

· Water supply

· Refuse collection and commercial waste bins

· Civic dignitary to start the race

· Traffic management in start location to support the delivery of the start event, including road closures, parking suspensions and removal of vehicles from race route

· Stakeholder publicity and notification of road closures associated with the start

· Permission to erect structures over the highway (closed road only)

· Safety Advisory Group (SAG) process

· Counter Terrorism Overlay under guidance from Counter Terrorism North East Advisors

6.4       Finish requirements

· Removal of obstructions and parking for final 8km of race route, including traffic islands

· Team parking area

· Technical zone adjacent to finish line

· TV production area

· Tour village area to allow for erection of stalls and gazebos

· Press office located close to finish line (can be council building or function room)

· Supply of toilets

· Barriers for crowd management in team parking area

· Water supply

· Refuse collection and commercial waste bins

· First Aid provision for spectators

· NYC staff / project lead on site

· Stewarding 30 trained paid stewards

· Permission to erect structures over the highway (closed road only)

· SAG process

· Traffic management in finish location to support the delivery of the start event, including road closures, parking suspensions and removal of vehicles from race route

· Representative from local authority in event control

· Stakeholder publicity and notification of road closures associated with the finish location

· CT Overlay under guidance from Counter Terrorism North East Advisors

6.5       Route Requirements

· Road defect repairs on race route in line with relevant local standards.  Repair of all defects on last 200m of race route

· Repair team to be available on the day of the event to make any emergency repairs.

· Conduct street cleansing, litter removal prior to, during and post-race as agreed with

· Conduct grass cutting, hedge trimming and tree pruning as required.

· Provide suitable portable roadways as required to combat soft/waterlogged ground at the finish area.

· Implement and cover the costs of all associated fixed road closures within the host authority’s boundary. (The race will be managed on a rolling-road basis by the Police Central Escort Group).

· Implement all road closure signage along the race route.

· Provision and deployment of ‘No Parking’ restrictions on the race route as needed. 

· Removal of illegally parked vehicles within the agreed and defined finish area to ensure safe passage of the race.

· Implement bus stop suspensions and bus route rerouting (as required).

· Stakeholder publicity and notification of road closures associated with the race route.

6.6       The costs etc associated with the activities outlined above will be impacted by the host locations and race route.  Working with British Cycling and YNYCA we are seeking to minimise the impact of the race route, where possible, to keep associated costs as low as possible.  Similarly selecting an appropriate start or finish location can help to reduce costs. This is balanced against getting the right mix of both community engagement and sporting challenge for the race.

6.7       Another aspect that will need to be considered as part of the planning of the host locations and race route is counter terrorism (CT) requirements.  Dependent on the host location and requirements raised by NY Police as per any CT assessment.  The requirements at the ToB in 2022 in Helmsley were relatively straightforward to deliver, however requirements are likely to have changed since then.  Further discussion is planned with British Cycling and North Yorkshire Police.

6.8       It is not envisaged that any large-scale highway repairs will be required.  Once the route is confirmed a route risk assessment will be carried out by British Cycling, which will be reviewed by NYC to identify if any small-scale highway repairs are required in line with our highway safety inspection manual.

6.9       Based on the above requirements we anticipate that the £200K operational funding (£100K NYC and £100K YNYCA) should be sufficient to deliver each of the two races (2026 and then 2027).  As outlined above we are seeking to reduce costs wherever possible through route design and host location selection. It is proposed that a further £25K contingency fund is allocated for each of the two races.  The Corporate Director Environment would have delegated responsibility to allocate this funding should it be required.

6.10     The funding requested does not include grants or support for local community groups to host events on or close to the route.  For previous races, small scale grants, typically £500 - £1000 were made available. Discussions are ongoing with the combined authority to identify if further funding is available to support local community events.

7.0       ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1       No alternative options were considered

8.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8.1 There is a requirement for £100k of funding from NYC in both 2026 and 2027 to support the delivery of the race – a total requirement of £200k. It is proposed that this unbudgeted cost will be met from the Strategic Capacity Reserve.

8.2 YNYCA have agreed to fund the hosting fee £350k over two years and £100k of funding per year in 2026 and 2027.

8.3 There is a risk that operational costs will exceed the £200k per annum budget once further details are known. As outlined in 6.9 a further contingency has been identified of £25k for each year, 2026 and 2027. The Corporate Director Environment would have delegated responsibility to allocate this funding should it be required.  No funding above this amount would be available from the Council and if forecast costs were above this, additional funding would either need to be sought from the YNYCA or the route amended to bring costs within the available budget.

8.4 There may be further costs which will indirectly be met by NYC in terms of an impact on income, particularly in relation to parking services through the closure of car parks, parking spaces etc which will reported as part of quarterly financial reporting.

9.0       LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

9.1       YNYCA will enter into a grant funding agreement with British Cycling in respect of the relevant hosting fees.

9.2       A funding agreement will be produced between NYC and YNYCA for the £100K per annum contribution from YNYCA to NYC for operational costs.

9.3       NYC will produce the relevant temporary traffic regulation orders (TTROs)

9.4       Any procurement activity will be carried out in line with NYC’s Contract Procurement Rules and Grant Rules

10.0     EQUALITIES

10.1     See Appendix A

11.0     CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT

11.1     See Appendix B

12.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

12.1     To facilitate the delivery of a stage of the Tour of Britain Cycle race in 2026 and 2027

13.0

RECOMMENDATION

13.1

That the Executive · approves the allocation of £200,000 (£100,000 per year over two years) funding from the Strategic Capacity Reserve for operational costs associated with the delivery of the Tour of Britain Cycling Race in 2026 and 2027. · Delegates responsibility to the Corporate Director Environment to manage a contingency fund of £25K in each of 2026 and 2027 to support event delivery if the existing annual budget is exceeded. · Delegate responsibility to the Corporate Director Environment to agree the race routes with British Cycling for the 2026 and 2027 Tour of Britain Cycling Races

APPENDICES:

Appendix A – EIA – to be added ahead of Executive Meeting

Appendix B – Climate Change to be added ahead of Executive Meeting

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None

Karl Battersby

Corporate Director Environment

County Hall

Northallerton

14 April 2026

Report Author – James Gilroy Team Leader Highway Asset Management

Presenter of Report James Gilroy

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.