A great sports summer for our two countries

At this time of year with the holidays coming, it’s good sometimes to have some positive and cheerful things to talk about, and I think sports between Britain and France is one of them right now.

Written version (continued)

A couple of weeks ago, we had Marion Bartoli winning the ladies’ finale at Wimbledon, Andy Murray the men’s. And then we went on to Chris Froome’s victory on the Champs Elysées in the Tour de France. That means the second year running that we’ve had a British cyclist win the Tour, a remarkable demonstration that British cycling is going through a fantastic period. We perhaps all remember the Olympic Games and the number of gold medals that the British team won there as well.

And so it’s natural that the Tour de France are looking to the UK as their launch pad for Le Tour 2014. Yorkshire will be playing host to the Tour for the start: the first race will be from Leeds to Harrogate, then onwards from York and eventually to Cambridge and London for an exciting finish on the mile towards Buckingham Palace before the Tour moves on to France.

This is an area where Britain and France, living sport together, celebrating each other’s successes, is a big part of what is happening between the two peoples. I was on the Champs Elysées to see the finish, and the number of Union Jacks that were there was just a remarkable reminder of how many British people made the journey here, and I hope many French people will go and see the beauties of Yorkshire next year.