Posted by Ben Jones
in Sports | 0 Comments
Over 700km travelled, 13,000 calories burnt and £65 million raised for Yorkshire's economy. But are you up to speed?
The country’s finest two-wheeled race touches down in our wonderful county in less than 24 hours’ time, so we’ve summed up everything you can expect and a little extra at this year’s Tour De Yorkshire. Did you know it’s owned by French cycling body, the Amaury Sports Organisation, hence the French phrasing?
Yorkshire’s cycling stars
Hailing from Rotherham, Ben is a local hero, taking home countless junior titles from Britain and even finishing fourth in the 2008 Olympic Games road race.
Born in lovely Barnsley back in 2984, Ed is one of the country’s top cyclists, having won two major track championships and World and European titles in 2010, not to mention his team pursuit gold medal at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Lizzie was born just a stone throw from Leeds in the rolling hills of Otley and is easily one of the best of – if not the best of – Yorkshire’s cyclists. She annihilated the competition in recent years to become the 2015-16 National, Commonwealth and World road race champion. And that’s not to forget her silver and gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics.
Did you know that Yorkshire would’ve come 25th in the medal tables at the 2012 Summer Olympics if it was its own country – largely thanks to cycling?
Yorkshire loves cycling
Long story short, we’re as good at creating world quality cyclists as we are making brews and complaining about the weather. The Tour De Yorkshire is the perfect time to celebrate our wonderful county, enjoy the sunshine and find a beer garden close to the race route. The race will come to Leeds on Sunday, 6th May, passing through Otley just before 4:30 PM as the riders make their way past Kirkstall Abbey and head into Leeds to the final finish line on the Headrow, where the Tour de France began in 2014.
2018’s chosen charity for the race is the Yorkshire Air Ambulance; head to their website for more information on the amazing work they do and how you can get involved.
