Tour de France Yorkshire - The route...?

Although it won't be revealed by until a press conference (in both Leeds and Paris) on 17th January, "usually reliable sources" suggest the following is likely: -

Day 1 - Saturday 5th July 2014 - the start will be in Central Leeds, heading out through the grounds of Harewood House and then up and across - probably Sutton Bank - through The North Yorkshire Moors National Park - and across for a sprint finish on the sea front in Scarborough. 

Day 2 - Sunday 6th -  is expected to start in York City Centre heading across into The Yorkshire Dales National Park, coming down - hopefully through Ilkley and up past The Cow and Calf Rocks on Ilkley Moor, then down through Halifax and maybe ending in Sheffield City Centre.

All this is yet to be confirmed! It may prove wrong.  I'll bet it's not far off the mark though!  

We'll just have to wait - in the meantime go to yorkshire.com for the latest news

Tour de France - Latest

It is official: The world's greatest cycle race - the Tour de France - will start in the world's greatest county on 5th & 6th July 2014 bringing millions of fans to the Yorkshire roadside to cheer on the champions of the sport.

Welcome to Yorkshire reports...  "It will be the first time Le Tour has visited the north of England having previously only made visits to the south coast and the capital. We guarantee it will be a festival and a spectacle for fans and first timers alike and are sure Yorkshire will rise to occasion and give the riders, the teams and the race organisers a Grand Départ to remember. Yorkshire is a world class county and it will deliver a world class event.

This is Yorkshire's moment to shine. Over 2 billion people watch Le Tour live on television every year providing a wonderful advert for our county and hopefully it will prompt people who maybe haven't visited before or not been in a while to book a break to visit us.

This is undoubtedly Yorkshire's opportunity to welcome the world.

With the recent success of British riders, notably Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Briton to win Le Tour in 2012 shortly followed by a gold medal time trial performance in London, the popularity of cycling has never been higher. With that in mind it might be a good idea to think about booking your favourite Yorkshire hotel, bed and breakfast or campsite early to avoid disappointment!

Yorkshire is rightly proud to be able to say it will host the Tour de France. The county is a heartland of the sport and over the next few pages we celebrate Yorkshire's Grand Départ, Yorkshire's cycling champions, the county's iconic cycling landscapes and hopefully inspire more people to consider going uphill and down dale on two wheels in future".

Le Grand Depart will be in Leeds on Saturday 5th July 2014.  Competitors will tour the city and then head for The Yorkshire Dales.  Sunday will be in the North Yorkshire Moors (based on information provided by Welcome to Yorkshire). An announcement on 17th January 2013 will confirm the route and dates.

 

 

Vive le Yorkshire!

Yorkshire has won the bid to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2014.

News that the "Back le Bid" campaign has been successful is terrific for Yorkshire.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to stage the biggest annual sporting event in the world, in Yorkshire" commented Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive Gary Verity

"Two billion people watch Le Tour live on television every year and the Grand Départ, which is held outside of France every two years, is the most eagerly anticipated and widely publicised few days of the whole race" 
 

More details about Yorkshire’s Grand Départ will be revealed by Welcome to Yorkshire in January.

For the latest follow this story on Twitter and Facebook (direct links to this story!)

 

(OK! You're right! I'm not likely to be in the lead peloton - but they just might tackle our local steep climb at Langbar!)

Snow expected overnight - Monday 3rd December

The first snow of winter was expected overnight, but came to nothing!  Remember, if there are any serious issues regarding travel to us, we let arriving guests know by text message/ SMS as well as posting news on Blogger, Facebook and Twitter. 

In 15 winters, we've never been cut off due to weather.  We have a 4x4 vehicle and can collect anyone stranded in snow!  There's always a warm welcome when you arrive!  Tim