Ireland scraps Tour de France bid

The Government of Ireland has announced that it will cease to pursue its bid - in the works since 2022 - to host the first 3 stages of the Tour de France in 2026 or 2027, following the withdrawal of the support of its NI partners .

This decision was taken months ago, but only now made public.

In 2022, Tourism Minister Catherine Martin TD and the then NI Economy Minister began to craft a joint proposal for hosting of the Grand Depart. However, as Ms. Martin said in a statement this week, in July 2023 she received word from the NI Department of the Economy that they were stopping work on the project.

Ms. Martin also said:

"Should the opportunity arise again to consider a bid to host the Grand Depart, whether jointly or singly, the experience gained in the process...will be of use in any such future consideration."

Ireland last hosted the race in 1998 (pictured, above).