Le Tour in Yorkshire
2014 For two days in July, Yorkshire gave the Tour de France its Grandest ever Départ…
when the tour de France organisers first announced that the 2014 race would be starting in Yorkshire – sorry Tuscany – more than a few eyebrows were raised. But over the space of a week, including two fabulous days of racing, the county delivered on its promise to provide the greatest start the race had ever seen.
From the yellow bikes and tricolore bunting that lined the streets, to a sold-out team presentation in front of some 10,000 fans, the portents were good leading up the event that the Tour was going to be a hit in a land more famous for its cricket, but even after all that the spectacle of the weekend of racing saw jaws drop all over Europe and the rest of the world.
As three and a half million spectators took to the roadsides during stages 1 and 2, swamping the riders as the county basked in the sunshine, the scenes were unprecedented in the race’s illustrious 111-year history. “It was incredible, and is going to be unforgettable,” said race director Christian Proudhomme as the race began its journey back to France. “The Grand Départ was amazing, emotional, what the British people have done is magnificent.”
The recollections of Cycling Plus readers who travelled up to Yorkshire more than backed up the Frenchman’s assessment.
“The sheer number of people prepared to stand at the side of the road in the middle of the countryside for hours to get a 10-second glimpse of the peloton was a surprise,” said Stuart Bates. “Good fun and great support.”
Graham Knowles added: “The amount of people and the speed of the riders on Holme Moss are a few memories of an amazing day.”
The racing wasn’t bad either! Stage 1 saw a solo effort from crowd favourite Jens Voigt, with the 42-year-old German riding himself into an unlikely polka dot jersey, while stage 2 set the tone for the rest of the race, with a tactically astute Vincenzo Nibali using the fiercely steep Jenkin Road climb to escape the pack and establish a lead he relinquished just once – for one day – all the way to Paris.
The only sour note struck all weekend was Mark Cavendish’s crash in the sprint at the end of the opening stage. Not only did it deny the Manxman, whose mother hails from the finish town of Harrogate, a shot at a first ever day in yellow, but it robbed the race of the much anticipated showdown between Cav and Germany’s Marcel Kittel, who went on to dominate the Tour’s sprint stages. red, white & blue man shuts up legs tears of a nation