There were always going to be winners and losers when the route for the Yorkshire stages of the 2014 Tour de France was announced. Broadly speaking, this will please the Yorkshire cycling community, the purists, local business and the public at large. The leader of Leeds City Council, Cllr Keith Wakefield, didn’t hold back by announcing this as “The biggest sporting achievement this county has experienced.”
I’ve already heard plenty of people saying ‘it’s going right past my front door’ which is testament to the organisers claims that the route will be within 1hours travel of 98% of Yorkshire residents. This was clearly part of the brief. During the press conference, Welcome to Yorkshire’s energetic chief executive, Gary Verity, told the world: “We are ready.” He extolled the virtues of the county and said he wanted “Yorkshire to become the top cycling region in the UK.”
Tour Director, Christian Prudhomme explained the reasons why the tour had been awarded to Yorkshire: “The amazing British summer of cycling convinced us that we should come back as soon as possible”. He conceded that before the 2012 cycling season, he estimated it would be “ten or twelve years” before the tour returned to the UK. The fact that Yorkshire got the nod shouldn’t be diminished by that. He continued: “I always knew Yorkshire had beautiful landscapes, but I hadn’t realised Yorkshire was so gorgeous until I visited in May last year.” The visit in May was clearly a key moment in the process. In truth, the idea was only made public at the ‘Y12’ tourism event in April, something I blogged about at the time. The fact that a helicopter was hired to fly the delegates around the county speaks volumes about the lengths the authorities went to, but even Gary Verity couldn’t have imagined the tour would be here by 2014.
In terms of the route, the cycling heartlands of Otley and Ilkley are in prominence, with the spectacular Dales taking centre stage on day one. The major conurbations are also catered for, with the routes going through Leeds, Bradford, York, Huddersfield and Sheffield. The major loser appears to be East Yorkshire, and I must admit that a finish on the promenade in Scarborough would have proved the region as a county of contrasts. I feel that their ‘out on a limb’ nature may have done for any such plans, and not fulfilled the objective of passing close by, or through populated areas.
The route is likely to be characterised by Yorkshire’s natural beauty and scale on day one, juxtaposed by the county’s industrial heritage on day two – fulfilling the brief of providing a showcase for local tourism and businesses. This is crucial to the region, and Verity estimates the economic benefit to be “Significantly more than London’s Grand Depart in 2007” which was £90m.
The tourism body has promised a cultural festival ahead of, and during the visit. This will take the form of a 100 day arts festival with more events to be announced. The new Leeds arena will also play a part, with the teams presentations taking place there – quite a coup for the new venue.
Stage one will depart from outside Leeds Town Hall, generating some intense coverage for the City, before heading out into the rural idylls. One of the great things about Leeds, is that if you head out in almost any direction, you’ll hit the countryside, and great riding terrain, within a few miles. The route will head out towards Skipton through the dramatic Wharfedale, before closing in on the upper dales. Kettlewell is a beautifully backward village (meant as a compliment) and will scream Yorkshire to those with a preconception. The isolated moors around the town may be the first real test of the riders, before turning back on themselves and heading for a probable sprint finish in Harrogate. There is sufficient space between the last hills (two that will count towards the ‘King of the Mountains’ classification) and the town to ensure any sprinters who may have lost time to the ‘mountain goats’ can get back on track. Britain’s Mark Cavendish, with a new and exclusive lead out train, will fancy himself to wear yellow in Harrogate – the birthplace of his mother.
Stage two starts in York, one of the county’s more famous cycling cities. The famous minster will form an impressive backdrop for the peloton. The route then returns via Harrogate, to Skipton, and on into the more heavily populated areas of the county such as Keighley and Bradford. Mills and Victorian factories will be the key features of this part of the route, with the cobble hills of Haworth likely to feature. Passing through Holmfirth and Huddersfield along the way, former industry heartlands of the county, the peloton will rumble on towards the Peak District and the infamous Holme Moss. In fact, the final 60km look pretty tricky and a breakaway, or more likely a select group of the more climb able riders, will take the stage, potentially scuppering Mark Cavendish’s hopes of holding yellow on The Mall on day 3.
If any one thing surprised me about the route, it would be the difficulty of the second stage. Obviously this won’t compare to the inevitable mountain stages to follow in the Alps and the Pyrenees, but the run in to Sheffield could open up some significant time gaps still and the top riders will not be able to rest easy. This is pleasing, as it proves the stages in the UK will provide some real excitement and not simply a ‘shop window’ for Yorkshire.
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