Cambridge: Tour De France Funding

20 June 2013, 11:31 | Updated: 20 June 2013, 11:39

The Sports Minister has called on Cambridge to contribute towards the £21 million national cost of next year's Tour de France.

A stage of the race will be held in Cambridge on the 7th July 2014.

Yorkshire will host the first two stages of the race, before it moves down to Cambridge and then London.

The race will then return across the Channel to France.

However Sports Minister Hugh Robertson says Cambridge has not yet provided any money towards the £21 million cost of staging parts of the race in the UK.

During culture questions in the Commons, Cambridge MP Julian Huppert asked Mr Robertson what support the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was giving to the Tour. 

Mr Robertson replied: "I think you may wish you hadn't asked me that question. 

The Government has provided a considerable amount of underwriting, it has underwritten the whole event, it has provided the balance to make up a budget of £21 million. 

Unfortunately Cambridge has yet to contribute at all and that is one of the issues that we will be addressing in the weeks ahead.''