A consultation on temporary measures to increase the size of UK road race fields has opened ahead of the Tour de France.
This week the government announced it had opened a consultation on the measures that will allow the Tour de France's expected 198-strong field to race legally in the UK, when it starts in Yorkshire on 5 July, and visits Cambridge and London on 7 July.
Besides increasing field size, the new rules will temporarily override a regulation that means circuit lengths must be at least 10 miles (16km) long. It will also supersede the rule that bans races using roads where a speed limit of 40mph or less is in place for more than 1.5 miles.
The temporary measures will come into force on 1 May and end on 31 July. They will only apply to the field and route of the 2014 Tour.
Last year the government announced a plan to relax laws governing the regulation of road races. However the Tour de France changes will not have any impact on those proposed changes.
A similar set of temporary measures was brought in for the 1994 visit to the south of England.
The consultation closes on 27 March.
