Also the Tour was supported by the then transport commissioner Sir Peter Hendy, who has now left TfL to join Network Rail.
City Hall was never that keen on the Tour and thought the money could be better spent elsewhere.
Plus, a spending review looms where transport budgets will be cut.
I am told the cost for the London Grand Depart in 2017 would have been roughly £35m, and some of that money would have again come out of the cycling safety budget.
City Hall does not seem to have been convinced by the economic benefits.
Critics will also say an event planned for 2017 is not a priority for the mayor of London who leaves his post next summer.
All of this means politics and money eventually scuppered Le Tour in London in 2017, and it seems very unlikely it will return any time soon.