Wales bids for the British Open and Tour de France

THE Welsh Government is in talks about hosting a Tour de France stage and golf’s Open championship, following the success of Cardiff’s Champions League final.

As well as Saturday’s enthralling match between Real Madrid and Juventus, Wales has already hosted a number of top sporting events including the Ryder Cup, the Rugby World Cup, the Ashes and Olympic events.

This week the England-New Zealand ICC Champions Trophy takes place in Cardiff, and in 2019 the Cricket World Cup will take place in the city.

The Welsh Government is now keen to build on these events and attract more big sporting occasions to the country.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates told the BBC: “I think there is great potential to host new major events that have not yet been to Wales.

“We have had productive conversations with the organisations behind these events.”

The British Open is one of the four major annual tournaments in the world golfing calendar.

It is organised by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and since 1894 has been played in Scotland 62 times, in England 49 times and in Northern Ireland once.

It is always played on a links course and the rota of venues includes St Andrews and Muirfield, in Scotland, and Royal St Georges, in Kent.

Now the Welsh Government wants the Royal Porthcawl course in Bridgend added to the list, which currently includes 10 courses.

“There are opportunities to host more golfing events and I’m keen to discuss with the R&A the potential of Wales to host the British Open,” said Mr Skates.

“I think it is right that if we call it a British Open that it should be hosted in Wales and I’m keen to make sure that discussions take place with the R&A on that.

“I’ll be meeting with the R&A again this summer to discuss how we take forward the potential of a British Open being staged in Wales. I think it is our time.”

The Royal Porthcawl made a bid to hold the Open in 2015 after successfully hosting the Senior Open in 2015, but the R&A said it had “no intention” of adding the course to its roster.

The Open venues are fixed until 2020, and the Royal Porthcawl would probably need some redevelopment to be ready to host the competition.

Access for the 175,000 crowd could be an issue given the limited local infrastructure.

Wales has already made its mark in cycling races, hosting stages in the last seven Tours of Britain and gearing up to hold the final stage in Cardiff this year.

Now the Welsh Government is hoping cycling’s most famous race, the Tour de France, will come to the country.

It wouldn’t be the first time a part of the prestigious event has been held in Britain. A stage was held in Yorkshire in 2014, and previous tours have seen stages in Plymouth, Kent, and London.

“The Giro d’Italia and Tour de France are hugely popular and we have proved we can host major cycling events in Wales, I would like to attract more,” said Mr Skates.

“We have been speaking to the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France and that would be really exciting.”