Samenvatting

Le Grand Départ Tour the France 2015 took place in Utrecht on the 4th and 5th of July 2015. In advance to the first two stages a major side-event program is carried out which started a 100 days before the 4th of July. Utrecht University, School of Governance carried out a research to the legacy of Le Grand Départ Tour the France in Utrecht in cooperation with Utrecht University of Applied sciences, Hanze University of Applied sciences and the Mulier Institute. This research is commissioned by the local organizing committee of Le Grand Départ in Utrecht and is based on the project plan in which several legacy goals are mentioned. In this abstract we focus us on two types of legacy: 1) organizational legacy; what is the experienced cooperation between the several governmental and commercial organizations before, during and after Le Grand Départ? To what extend do organizations in Utrecht cooperate to create any social legacy and to what extend are the organizations focusing on creating leverage? 2) The social legacy; to what extend do the residents of Utrecht experience the side-event program which is carried out before and during Le Grand Départ. A link between the elite sport event and the legacy goals is created by organizing an ambitious side-event program, leveraging existing local government policies and programs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the side-event program and gain insight in how a major elite sport event can be socially leveraged through a side-event program.