Tour de Yorkshire
Not that long ago, if you asked the average person to name a cyclist they’d probably tell you that of the local paperboy or girl. Now, though, thanks to the likes of Mark Cavendish MBE, Sir Chris Hoy MBE, Victoria Pendleton CBE, Dame Sarah Storey OBE, Laura Trott OBE, Sir Bradley Wiggins CBE . . . the names roll off the tongue as fast as those of any other top sportsperson.
Cycling has come to grip the nation as British cyclists have had more and more success over recent years – culminating, of course, with a huge tally of medals at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games last year. Oh, and the little matter of Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France. This popularity has been recognised by the nation, hence the crop of honours that our cyclists have picked up in addition to their haul of gold, silver and bronze medals.
But it’s not just this country which has recognised how important cycling is in the UK, the French organisers of the Tour de France have noticed too and rewarded our cyclists’ endeavours by awarding the opening stages (the Grand Départ) of next year’s Tour de France to the UK, and it all kicks off (or should that be ‘pedals off’) here in Yorkshire on the 5th July.
In July 2014 the eyes of the world will be on the largest county in the UK in the run-up and throughout the initial stages of this renowned race. It should be great for Yorkshire tourism: in a typical year, the press, TV, sports teams and personnel between them book 1,200 hotel rooms each night, and the Tour de France attracts around 12 million spectators along the route of the race – and many of these will want accommodation too. During the race there will be hours and hours of TV and radio coverage – over 3 billion people watched last year’s event – and beforehand there will no doubt be a slew of programmes about the areas through which the cyclists will be riding.
I’m sure Yorkshire, and its people, will do the Tour de France proud.
And my guess is that cycling will become even more popular in Britain as both a spectator and a participant sport.