MOST of a £26,500 'underspend' at the Forest Council could go on attracting one of Britain's top cycle races to Gloucestershire.
The council's Cabinet is tomorrow (Thursday) expected to approve a £25,000 contribution to a county-wide bid to bring the Tour of Britain race to Gloucestershire next year.
The total cost is £175,000 but councillors hope the event will generate millions of pounds worth of spending in the county and valuable international television exposure.
The Forest Council is working with Cheltenham, Cotswolds, Stroud and Tewkesbury councils on bringing the Tour to Gloucestershire in 2016.
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The council would only make the contribution if there was a guarantee the race would come through the central part of the Forest.
Cabinet member for finance Cllr Richard Boyles (Con, Newnham and Westbury) said: "We want to make sure we do not get a repeat of the Olympic Torch which skimmed 100 yards of the north east of our area. We are about getting the maximum return for the Forest of Dean."
It is hoped the Gloucestershire stage would start in the Forest and one of two hill climbs would take place in the district.
Cllr Boyles said: "Dorset held it last year and it is estimated it brought in £6.5m with hotel stays and other spending.
"This is an all-encompassing view of getting people to recognise the Forest of Dean as a cycling venue – which many already do – for both off-road and on-road, enabling a growth of tourism."
It is also hoped that it will encourage more local people to take up cycling.
He said there would 'rolling' road closures to minimise disruption and they would be paid for by Gloucestershire County Council.
It comes as the government announces plans to make it easier for areas in England to host elite cycling events with changes to road regulations.
The new rules are part of the government's 'red tape challenge' and will make it easier to bring cycling events by updating the rules on the total number of participants and reducing the permitted circuit distance from 10 miles to five miles.
The latest round in the British Cycling elite series takes place in Chepstow next Wednesday (August 5).
The event brings top class cyclists who will race around the streets of the town centre.
It means that the entire town centre from the Town Arch in High Street to St Ann Street near the River Wye will be closed to traffic from 4pm until midnight.