BBC reporter Matt Slater has conducted an investigation to see how close Transport for London were to having their preparations for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2017 before they withdrew their bid.

Documents released to the BBC under the freedom of information act show the route of the opening three stages of the race. Stage one would have started in Greenwich and finished on The Mall via a loop of Surrey. Stage two, a time trial, was proposed to have been run through the centre of London. Stage three would have headed south from London to Brighton before turning east to finish in Hastings.

London’s Mayor Boris Johnson stopped the campaign to host the event as he said the £35 million it would cost to have the event could be better spent on other projects.

“The difficulty was we had to make a choice. £35 million is an awful lot to spend on a one off event when you could put that money in to long term projects,” Johnson said.