Tour de France Dir Christian Prudhomme revealed that three British cities, including London and Manchester, have "bid for the 2017 Grand Départ," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. Next year's Grand Départ will be in the "picturesque Mont-Saint-Michel on the north coast of France, but the location of the 2017 host city is not yet decided." As many as 5 million people "turned out to watch the first three stages of last year's race following the grand départ in Leeds." Prudhomme later "described the three days as the 'grandest of grand départs,' hailing it as the best in the Tour’s history." In the wake of that success, the ASO "signed a deal to co-promote the Tour de Yorkshire, a three-day stage race" that made its debut in May, again attracting huge crowds. Prudhomme said that the ASO was now "considering a third British grand départ" since '07, when London last hosted it. Prudhomme: "We have received bids from Scotland, London and Manchester." Edinburgh "lost out" to Leeds last year (TELEGRAPH, 7/3).
CYCLING CRASH: SB NATION's Louis Bien wrote "several riders were badly injured" within the final 60km of the thrid stage of the Tour de France after two large crashes, and the stage "was stopped" at the foot of the Côte de Bohissau, 105km into the 159.5km race. The pileups included Fabian Cancellara, the bearer of the Yellow Jersey. Sky Sports reported that Tom Dumoulin, Simon Gerrans, William Bonnet and Dimitry Kozonchik "have all abandoned" the race. Three riders have reportedly been taken to the hospital. The crash "was caused by a high pace along narrow roads" toward the Côte de Bohissau. The second occurred "almost instantly after the first," approximately 500m up the road (SB NATION, 7/6).
