THE organisers of the Tour de France could have other plans for parts of Yorkshire that missed out on the Grand Depart’s route for 2014.

Christian Prudhomme, director of Amaury Sport Organisation, said: “When we visited Yorkshire, Scarborough, the coast and East Yorkshire really captured our imagination and it has stayed long in our hearts. Working with Welcome To Yorkshire, we hope to return here in the future.”

Speaking after a dinner with business leaders at the Mansion House in York, he said they had wanted to finish a stage in Scarborough, but the town was too small.

“We went to Scarborough in spring. It’s gorgeous, really gorgeous, and we tried to have a stage there. But the tour is huge. It’s really too big. It was impossible for us to find a place.”

He compared the town to Bordeaux in France, which he said was also a small town in which it was difficult to find a finish line.

“I feel confident that the Grand Depart in Yorkshire is very nice story for all people from Yorkshire. We do have plans for the future, but I can’t tell you about them,” he said.

Mr Prudhomme answered questions about Lance Armstrong’s doping confession. He said: “I’m very happy to be here in York. Here is tomorrow’s cycling future. Armstrong is the past.”