IN BRIEF
British Cycling, Scottish Cycling and Beicio Cymru are asking the British government for £30 million to build more than 250 local cycling facilities in England, Scotland and Wales. The request takes the form of an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and draws on the measured results of the Places to Ride programme, which grew out of the 2019 road World Championships in Yorkshire. The political argument rests on the calendar: Britain hosts the Grands Départs of the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes in 2027.
| Amount requested | £30 million |
| Facilities targeted | More than 250, new or upgraded (England, Scotland, Wales) |
| Addressee | Open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham |
| Signatories named | British Cycling, Scottish Cycling and Beicio Cymru |
| Benchmark programme | Places to Ride, funded with £15m, born out of the 2019 Yorkshire World Championships |
| Results claimed | More than 150 projects, 500,000 people reached |
| Savings for the NHS | £13.1m between 2019 and November 2025 (Sport England data) |
| Health and social value | More than £100m since 2019 |
Hosting the Tour de France is an event; keeping something from it is a public policy. Less than a year before the British Grands Départs of 2027, the United Kingdom’s cycling federations are trying to turn the event into facilities, and have put a figure on their request.
An open letter to the Prime Minister for £30 million
According to road.cc, the three federations are asking the government for £30 million for more than 250 local cycling facilities. The request was made in an open letter addressed to Andy Burnham — the British Prime Minister, Cycling Weekly specifies, dating the letter to Wednesday 26 August. Going by their respective publication dates, the two sources are seven months apart: the road.cc article is dated 23 January 2026, the Cycling Weekly one 26 August; the Places to Ride figures cited below are those from January.
From the letter, road.cc quotes this passage: « A £30 million Government investment would create safe, accessible places to ride, helping people improve their health, build confidence on a bike, and connect with others in their community. » Cycling Weekly points out that the signatories are not only federations: the Grand Départ GB 2027 body and representatives of the start and finish towns are among them.
Places to Ride, the precedent the federations put forward
The case rests first of all on an existing programme. Places to Ride grew out of £15 million of government funding, which Cycling Weekly places « between 2019 and 2024 » and which road.cc links to the 2019 road World Championships in Yorkshire. road.cc describes it as « the largest ever investment in community cycling facilities in England, reaching half a million people, many of whom learned to ride a bike for the first time through the project ».
The figures put forward are those of its assessment. According to data collected by Sport England and cited by road.cc, the programme saved the NHS £13.1 million between its launch in 2019 and November 2025, and generated more than £100 million in health and social value. Cycling Weekly, for its part, counts more than 150 projects delivered in England.
The profile of those who benefited is highlighted by the federations: road.cc reports that 83% of the projects targeted children and young people, 41% women and girls, 35% low-income groups and 41% disabled people or people with long-term health conditions.
What £30 million would pay for
« With £30 million, we will deliver over 250 new or upgraded cycling facilities », said Jon Dutton, then chief executive of British Cycling, in a statement relayed by road.cc. The outlet sets out what the programme has already produced: « BMX pump tracks, mountain bike trails, school cycle routes, and forest and park bike trails » — facilities to ride on as much as routes to ride along.
« Places to Ride has demonstrated the power of targeted public investment », said Jon Dutton in January, then chief executive of British Cycling, in a statement quoted by road.cc; he has since left the federation. His Scottish counterpart Nick Rennie adds that « impact reports from both the Places to Ride programme in England, and the Cycling Facilities Fund in Scotland, clearly demonstrate the impact that facility funding has on the health and wellbeing of the nation ».
The move is worth noting in France, where funding for the national cycling plan has been cut back: it consists of attaching a request for facilities to a major sporting event, and justifying it with a measure of savings for the health system rather than with a modal shift target.
Lead photo: the pump track in Hove, East Sussex — Mutney, via Wikimedia Commons, under a CC BY 4.0.
