00:00The Tour de France is cycling's biggest event and it's one of the biggest sporting showcases
00:06on the planet. The mix of sport and intrigue and incredible sprawling hills and countryside
00:11make it an incredibly popular event for people in and out of the cycling world. Millions
00:15of people tune in every year to see the race on TV and line the streets of France just
00:20to take it all in. Every other year or so, the first stage, the Grand Depart, takes place
00:25somewhere outside France. Countries like Spain, Belgium, Germany and even Denmark,
00:30thousands of miles from France, have hosted the opening event in the past. Back in 2014,
00:34it took place in England, with cities like Sheffield and Leeds playing a host of the
00:38opening stages. And now, 13 years later, it's set to return to the UK, and of course, Cardiff
00:44is going to be one of the hosts. The Tour is set to start in Edinburgh and race through
00:47England before the final leg of the Openers finishing here in Cardiff. There is no official
00:52route quite yet, so we're not quite sure where the finishing line would be. Maybe Cardiff
00:56Castle behind me? Possibly the bay? It's impossible to tell now, but it's exciting to speculate.
01:02Places like the Valleys with its beautiful countryside will surely hope to play a big
01:05role too, and bringing such a mammoth event to the area would be incredible for the local
01:09economy and hopefully get some kids into cycling. The news has only just dropped and people
01:15around the city are already excited. Yeah, definitely. Obviously, it's never happened
01:20in Wales before, so it's actually good that it's coming to Wales. It brings more recognition
01:25to Wales, because Wales is a great country. And it will definitely excite a lot of people,
01:33like me myself. I'm excited myself, because it's to do with fitness and stuff. So, yeah,
01:39it'll be a good watch. It's really good, really exciting. It'll be good for the city and good
01:42for tourism and stuff as well. Yeah, it's good for a sport like Tour de France. It's
01:49pretty big. It'll bring France over to Wales, hopefully, and bring people over there, tourists
01:55out of Wales. One of the major benefits of the tour coming here to Wales is how much
01:59it will encourage local young people to take up the sport, something the locals think will
02:04be a real benefit. Yeah, definitely. Even me hearing about this now, today, that's inspired
02:09me to have a look if cycling is something I could do. So, even just the thought of it
02:16coming to Wales, Cardiff, is inspiring. And definitely, young children will get inspired
02:23by it, just because I'm inspired by it. So, it's a great thing all round. It brings recognition
02:29to the city, the country, and obviously it's to do with fitness, so it's promoting something
02:35good. Yeah, that'd be really good, yeah. Yes, good. Cycling's a good sport, but not many
02:40people do it. They sort of cycle publicly, like going from work to home, but they won't
02:45do it sporting-wise. So, it's sort of good bringing it over here. It might help out up
02:51towards Cathay, there's a cycling track, but not many people might go there, so it might
02:55introduce more people to go and do that. So, yeah, it's pretty good.
Comments