Welsh Government allocates £3.19m to 54 cycling projects ahead of Tour de France Grand Départ

The Welsh Government has awarded £3.19m to 54 cycling infrastructure projects run by councils and national park authorities, as part of a £4.5m package announced on 27 October ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2027.

The awards come through the Croeso i Feicwyr programme and will pay for cycling hubs, bike hire facilities, trail improvements and e-bike charging, the government said. A further £1.3m will go to a new Croeso i Feicwyr: Business Ready Fund for businesses and community organisations.

Adam Price, Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, said: "The Tour de France Grand Départ presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Wales."

The awards

Several awards sit at the £100,000 level. Among them, Isle of Anglesey County Council will receive £100,000 for the Holyhead Gateway Coastal Cycling Route, and Powys County Council will receive £100,000 for North Powys Cycle Hubs in Welshpool, Newtown, Machynlleth, Llandrindod Wells and Llanfyllin. The Powys hubs will provide cycle parking, repair stations, bike-wash facilities, e-bike charging and visitor information, according to the announcement.

Other £100,000 awards go to Powys County Council's South Powys Cycle Hubs Project, Caerphilly County Borough Council's town centre cycling infrastructure scheme, Torfaen County Borough Council's Pontypool – The Link Cycling Gateway and Ceredigion County Council's Ystwyth Trail Enhancement.

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority's awards include £64,800 for a King of the Mountains Tour Circuit, with bilingual markers on climbs including Epynt, Rhigos, Penrhys and Maerdy, plus £80,000 each for Ashford Tunnel – A Safer Path and the Govilon Line for Cycling.

Cardiff Council's awards include £90,000 for secure cycle lockers and £64,000 for wayfinding signs for cyclists. Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council will receive £68,000 for a solar e-bike charging network. The smallest award listed is £3,884 to Conwy County Borough Council for cycle parking at Bodnant Garden.

Project	Award
Holyhead Gateway Coastal Cycling Route (Anglesey)	£100,000
North Powys Cycle Hubs (Powys)	£100,000
Pontypool – The Link Cycling Gateway (Torfaen)	£100,000
Ystwyth Trail Enhancement (Ceredigion)	£100,000
Secure Cycle Lockers (Cardiff)	£90,000
Ashford Tunnel – A Safer Path (Bannau Brycheiniog)	£80,000
Solar E-Bike Charging Network (Blaenau Gwent)	£68,000
King of the Mountains Tour Circuit (Bannau Brycheiniog)	£64,800

The fund's terms

In a release dated 26 July 2026, the Welsh Government said the £4.5m fund is delivered through the Brilliant Basics capital fund, with £2m available in 2026-27 rising to £2.5m in 2027-28, and was intended to create a national network of destination cycling hubs, micro-hubs and signage. That release said applications would open on 10 August 2026 and close on 25 September 2026 at 1pm.

Business Wales said the grant was capped at £100,000 per application, although local authorities and national park authorities could submit more than one expression of interest. The maximum intervention rate was 80%, and the fund was capital only, with revenue costs not considered. Business Wales gave a closing date for expressions of interest of 1pm on Friday 7 August 2026.

Business Ready Fund

The £1.3m Business Ready Fund will be delivered through local authorities. The government said it will support cafés, pubs, restaurants, accommodation providers, visitor attractions and community organisations with improvements such as cycle parking, e-bike charging and repair facilities. Applications will open through local authorities in due course.

Price said: "We want the benefits to be felt long after the race has finished, creating a lasting tourism, sporting and economic legacy for Wales."

The race

The Wales stage will start in Welshpool and finish in Cardiff on 4 July 2027, the first time the Tour de France has come to Wales. The full route was unveiled in Paris on 22 October 2026. According to the Welsh Government, the route passes through Llandrindod Wells, Builth Wells and Brecon, with an intermediate sprint on the A483 entering Llandrindod Wells, and riders will tackle eight categorised climbs, six of them in the final 80 kilometres, including the Côte de Rhigos and the Côte de Caerphilly.

The government expects more than one million visitors to the Welsh stages and describes the event as the biggest free-to-spectate sporting event ever to take place in the UK. It said Wales will seek a share of the £520m UK cycling market, and that more than 7,000 volunteers will be recruited across the UK to help deliver the Grand Départ.

Visit Wales will mark 2027 as the Year of Cycling, which will include an interactive mapping tool bringing together cycling routes and destinations. Geraint Thomas, named Wales' Cycling Ambassador on 15 January 2026, will work with Visit Wales to promote routes and trails.