London Mayor Boris Johnson said it was a “no brainer” to turn down the opportunity for London to host the start of the Tour de France in 2017.

The cycling enthusiast said it was “entirely my call” to pull out of the event, adding that the £35 million cost could be better spent.

And the news follows confirmation that Welcome to Yorkshire, the organisation which brought the huge sporting event to the county in 2014, lost money.

Sir Gary Verity confirmed that Welcome to Yorkshire, a not-for-profit organisation, suffered a loss on its investment in the Tour de France but Yorkshire as a whole had benefited.

He said: “We had a loss that we made on it which we regard as an investment for the wider benefit of the Yorkshire economy, that’s our job. The economic benefit from that weekend alone was £102 million.”

Gary Verity
Gary Verity

A report by accountancy firm KPMG claimed that losses were in the region of £1 million.

A Welcome to Yorkshire spokeswoman said Leeds City Council commissioned KPMG to carry out a review of finance and governance arrangements at the organisation and the full accounts for 2014-2015 will be published in December.

She said the organisation was currently on track to deliver a “modest surplus” for the 2015-2016 financial year.

Millions turned out to see the race through Yorkshire and there were 40,000 alone on Holme Moss to see the world’s best cyclists make the steep climb.

Kirklees Council spent about £700,000 on staging parts of the race but said it brought a £4m boost to the local economy.

Boris Johnson said: : “I had to take a very tough decision, obviously painful. In an ideal world, you know me, my policy is to have your cake and eat it.

Boris Johnson arriving for The Pride of Britain Awards 2015 on his bike
Boris Johnson arriving for The Pride of Britain Awards 2015 on his bike

“The difficulty was we had to make a choice. £35 million is an awful lot to spend on a one off event when you could put that money in to long term projects.

“What people really want is safer cycling lanes.”

He added: “For me it was a no brainer.”

He believes “most people would accept that £35 million is a lot to spend on a one off event” but denied it marked the end of big sporting events in London.