The Tour de France hits Yorkshire

The recent Grand Depart of the Tour de France was a fantastic occasion for Yorkshire (and Derbyshire briefly) and the UK.

As I was born in York, I was very pleased a couple of years ago when it was announced that Yorkshire had beaten other places including Barcelona to host the Grand Depart.  This was an opportunity too good to miss.

Bizarrely I spent the weekend avoiding my home city despite the action there all weekend.  I had been invited by a friend to watch the event in Mytholmroyd near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.  We decided to go by train from Micklefield near Selby through to Mythomroyd.  Northern Rail had put more trains on and more coaches on the trains but the train was very full by Bradford, more full at Halifax and sardine-like at Sowerby Bridge.


The Train companies entered into the spirit of the day!

We were relieved to get off at Mytholmroyd Station which has a cycle path passing right through.  The short walk down from the station led straight to the rather narrow main street which was itself the route of the tour.

There were lots of cyclists making the most of the closed roads to do their bit of the route in the hours before the race arrived and some rather over officious marshals telling people to get on the extremely narrow pavements hours before the arrival of the caravan - though it was all good natured.

My friend was keen to find a spot very early and we found a corner opposite a very nice pub (whose beer was just too good to pass on) and next to a church, which was open and very useful when there 3 children 8 and under with you!  The corner was at the bottom of a 5 mile climb and we were roughly half way through the day.

The atmosphere built and the streets became more full while the sun shone brightly overhead.  It was nice to see a new place on such an occasion.



The leading pack speed through Mytholmroyd

The caravan came through with police outriders and their fellow gendarmes.  Various free gifts were thrown from the sponsors vehicles including Yorkshire Tea, Fruit Shoot Frisbees, Haribo sweets and other items.  We were grateful that no cricket ball manufacturers were involved. Official tour merchandise vans then stopped stocked with tee shirts and umbrellas.  The crowds flocked, then quickly dissipated as it was explained that they were not free - a proud moment for a Yorkshireman to bear witness to!



The Peloton makes it's way up the hill.

Rumours of the progress of the ride passed amongst the crowd and the sound of a couple of helicopters meant they were close.  We knew that a group of around 7 had gone ahead and they arrived between 13:30 and 13:45.  The atmosphere was fantastic as the level of noise rose on their arrival.  Approximately 18 seconds later they were gone - up the hill!



The noise rose again just a couple of minutes later as the peloton came through.  This lasted a little bit longer and gave a chance for a few more quick pictures.


Following all of the support vehicles passing, the crowds broke and savoured what they had just seen.  We went back to watch the rest of the race on TV and gave it a good couple of hours before getting a train back.



Several generations greeted the tour with great enthusiasm.

It was a great day and am so pleased that we managed to see it.  I get the feeling that the Grand Depart will come back to England but am pleased that my children can say they were there.  Whilst the trains were busy, the staff at Northern Rail were excellent, as were the transport police who helped to marshal as the tour approached.  I'd also like to go back to Mytholmroyd and do some cycling there.