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Pickering, Y018 8RA
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Yorkshire residents are this morning waking to the dramatic news that the Amaury Organisation Sportif (AOS), the French organiser's of the Tour de France have cancelled Yorkshire's 2014 Tour stages.
According to French TV broadcasts overnight, the AOS have been forced to cancel the two stages set for Yorkshire in July due to "Qatar-style corrupt payments".
Yorkshire is Set to Lose Both its Tour de France Stages in July 2014.
The allegations aired last night suggest that multi-million pound payments were made by Tourism Yorkshire to AOS Officials in order to secure the event for Yorkshire.
Speaking on France's Chanel Deaux last night, French Government Minister Aprille Follies spoke of widespread corrupt payments from Yorkshire businessmen to Tourism Yorkshire which were then passed on to AOS Officials.
According to French Police sources investigating the corrupt payments, two Yorkshire "underworld identities" were behind the scheme to bring the Tour to Yorkshire.
Roth Erham, the Kingpin behind Yorkshire's illegal North-sea fish trade and Duit Yursen, Bradford's self-claimed "Rajah of Curry" stood to make millions if the the Tour came to Yorkshire.
Aprille Follies said: "the scheme was to buy-up French TV advertising during the Tour in order to promote "fish supper's with curry sauce" to the huge untapped French market for this Yorkshire Cuisine".
This is a criminal act upon the Republic, and the French people, she said.
It stood to net the conspiritors hundreds of millions of Euro's from unsuspecting French diners.
With just 95-days to go until the Grande Depart of this years' Tour, the AOS and French Government have announced that Yorkshire will be stripped of its two Tour stages.
These will now be switched to Lancashire.
Asked for his thoughts about the cancelled Tour on Radio 3 earlier this morning, Geoffrey Boycott said "I am appalled. People with more brass than sense paying to watch men ride push-bikes? It's just not cricket!"
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