Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of categorising the Tour de France as a Category A sporting event.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to sporting events, including the Tour de France (both men’s and women’s Tours), so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies, including British Cycling, to generate essential broadcast revenue to invest in their sports at all levels.

The Government believes that the current list of events works well and that it strikes an appropriate balance between access to sporting events and allowing sports to maximise broadcasting revenue.