Felix Lowe
With Yorkshire bidding for a Vuelta depart, Eurosport’s Felix Lowe considers them a perfect match
Our proud Brit on why the Vuelta should add some Yorkshire pudding to its paella
There will be a time – not long after Sir Gary Verity is elected UCI President, no doubt – when every pro cycling race takes place in Yorkshire. It’s inevitable.
Not content with a Tour de France Grand Départ, its own four-day race, and the 2019 World Championships, it now seems that Yorkshire hopes to host the start of the Vuelta a España. By ’eck! Ay caramba!
As well as offering a suitcase of cash to race organisers, it’s traditional for potential suitors to highlight the many ways in which their city or region would be perfect to host a depart. So how will Sir Gary persuade Spain’s greatest race that it will feel right at home in God’s Own Country?
Yorkshire’s relationship with Spain dates back to Roman times – and we’re not talking Roman Kreuziger. In 71AD Spanish legions of the Roman army were placed in and around York, and they stayed for the best part of half a century. There may well be residents of York today who are descended from those Spanish soldiers – or at least the ones that didn’t scuttle off to Iberia when the Vikings arrived.
Meteorologically, there are discrepancies, yet none insurmountable. A balmy day in Yorkshire is a match for an overcast one in Galicia. And while no one in Spain would consider wearing a coat on a night out, nor would anyone from Yorkshire, even if the temperature dropped to near freezing.
Spain is renowned for its Moorish influences, and Yorkshire isn’t exactly lacking in moors. Ilkley is my personal favourite. Culturally, Valencians may have their celebrated mass tomato fight, but is that really any different from Wakefield’s epic Rhubarb Festival? Although I imagine the latter is slightly easier to clear up afterwards.
Other cultural links include Halifax-born Ed Sheeran, who last year penned a love song for Barcelona called ‘Barcelona’ that included the lines, ‘Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Oh Barcelona’. Surely it’s only a matter of time before Julio Iglesias reciprocates by crooning a romantic ballad dedicated to Leeds.
Gastronomically, Yorkshire can put the pie into paella. Who wants tapas and Manchego (poor man’s Wensleydale) over beef dripping chips, Whitby scampi, Yorkshire pudding and Harrogate blue cheese croquettes?as Harrogate’s Martin Gatenby, author of Life Of Mamils, points out, Spain shares Yorkshire’s love of pork. ‘It’s just over here we don’t mess about hanging a leg of ham for years while it absorbs fag smoke and diesel fumes – we just mince it up. Pies are perfect ride food: protein for muscles, fat for the joints, all contained in an edible package made of carbs.’
Then there’s sport. Sheffield Wednesday may be no Real Madrid, but Yorkshire alone picked up more Olympic gold medals at London 2012 than the whole of Spain. And while you may not find bullfighting in Yorkshire, you’ll almost certainly find some guy with a bull terrier who’s up for a scrap.
Finally, cycling. Granted, the Yates twins are from Lancashire, but the Brownlees belong to Yorkshire, as do Barry Hoban, Beryl Burton and, er, Ben Swift. Although no Spaniard has yet won a stage of the Tour de Yorkshire, the demanding terrain and punchy climbs should be a fine fit for only the fourth Vuelta start outside Spain.
Spanish reporters, however, may struggle to eat their ‘tea’ at a time usually reserved for their siesta. And there may also be some confusion why in Yorkshire there’s North Riding, West Riding and East Riding, but no riding in the south. Even I’m baffled by that. Felix Lowe thinks Eldorado was no match for Emmerdale