Tour de France 2014 – Grand Depart

I’ve sat through many years of the Tour De France on TV. Chef gets really into it, almost to the point of sitting on the sofa with his bike helmet on. And so, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that our trip to the UK just happened to be at the same time the Tour De France was in England this year. Admittedly, I was looking forward to see it live and in person.

The people of Yorkshire were out in force to watch the Grand Depart. Stage Two of the tour de France peddled its way from Harrogate, through the beautiful countryside of the Pennine hills to the finish line in the city of Sheffield.

After a 5 mile walk from the car park on the outskirts of Sheffield, Chef found a good spot to watch the cyclists make their way through the village of High Bradfield. There was a carnival atmosphere – yellow bikes and bunting everywhere. Before the competitors came through, there was a parade too.

On stage two there were some challenging category graded climbs. It’s crazy to see how fast these riders go – it’s so much faster than it looks on television. The pure speed of the cyclists going down a hill is amazing. Chef got a good spot – watching the riders coming into the village on a downhill bend and then after they’d whizzed by, a steep uphill climb.

The stats for the cote de Bradfield;

The Le tour Yorkshire was a massive success, with a fantastic turnout. There’s now talk of it becoming a yearly event, as Yorkshire is considered a hub for road riders in the UK.