UKC

Hello all,

There's a campaign on the Welcome to Yorkshire website to get the Tour de France to come to Yorkshire.

How would that work? Surely the clue's in the name ('France')?

The link is here, if anyone would like to add their voice to the campaign: http://www.yorkshire.com/back-the-bid

In reply to Tall Clare: TDF regularly travels outside of france and was in Britain a few years back so Yorkshire shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Back the bid !! Sod the Olympics

In reply to Tall Clare: Isn't France still one of our dominions?

In reply to Tall Clare:

Every tour de France visits at least 3 countries to my knowledge...

It has been to the UK twice alread I believe (15-16 years ago there were 3 stages between portsmouth and dover)

And the year after the Chunnel opened I think it started (Prologue) in London (my memory might be wrong)

There are regularly trips to Spain, Andora, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria.

It really depends how much the Yorkshire folk want it (you have to pay for the privelege)

Would be great tho... I'd certainly go and see it.

In reply to Tall Clare: They could have a mountain stage over the Buttertubs.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Hi Clare,

Normally they have the prologue (opening stage) in another country. I think it is normally one of the Benelux countries, but a few years back, they did start from London down to Kent....

In reply to abh:

Ah, looking at other posts, they may have other stages there too, and Yorkshire does seem a bit hilly for the prologue....

In reply to balmybaldwin:

My Mistake: 2 Stages in 1994:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Tour_de_France

Think it was just the once. It was Ireland that had the start stages one year

I have backed the bid

In reply to AdrianC:

I like your thinking

In reply to abh:

It's just that Yorkshire seems like a bit of a trog up from the south. Still, it would be a jewel in the TdF crown, I suppose. Alps, schmalps - they could compete for King o' t' 'ill.

In reply to Tall Clare:

They could charter a ferry to Hull, or fly to Robin Hood International, then they'd never have to touch non-Yorkshire soil. I guess the only problem will be forcing them back to France after they have all had their heads turned by the bright lights of Doncaster and Beverley.

In reply to 999thAndy:

I do hope you're not being sarcastic about this glorious county, young man.

In reply to Tall Clare: Ireland had the start in 98, the year of the festina scandal, when a certain soigneur got caught with a crapload of EPO etc when travelling

In reply to Tall Clare:

Moi?

I've been spending time at Hatfield colliery recently, so I'm well placed to comment on the cultural and culinary delights of South Yorkshire.

In reply to Tall Clare:

The Tour has started 3 times in the UK

The last time was in 2007 when it started in London - Spartacus won the Prologue, and Cav crashed on the approach to Canterbury towards the end of Stage 1, so didn't contest the sprint.

In reply to Tall Clare:
TDF tends to start outside France every other year, and at other times just nips over the border into Spain or Italy. It all depends on who offers it the most money.

And therein lies the problem - ask any yorkshireman whether they'd be prepared to pay 200 people to cycle round the county and the answer would be a simple, ahem, "on yer bike"

In reply to Chris the Tall: Even if they stipulated all riders had to be on Bob Jackson frames!

In reply to Tall Clare:

At first I thought this might be good, and also that ASO might be interested as cycling has nowhere near the popularity in England that it has in the rest of Europe.

You woulnd't run it as a mountain stage, we'd want a british victory, so fundamentally that means a flat stage for Cav, somewhere up around York I guess would work.

But look at the figures:

The biggest sporting even in the world...80 million people watch...but more importantly

'there are 5,000 people travel with it every day...and that EXCLUDES the spectators'. Where the f*ck are you gonna put them all? I think the pure logistics would rule it out tbh.

In reply to Tall Clare:

New York has been trying to get the Tour Prologue for years.

E

In reply to Tiberius:

England's not that big. I'm sure you could find room for them in towns say up to 2h from the dales - York, Leeds/Bratfud, Middlesborough, Manchester, Carlisle etc etc The lucky ones would get Doncaster.

In reply to 999thAndy:

Tour towns pay big money to have the stages start/end in their town as it brings in a lot of local cash. In fact in the old days it was not unknown to have two stages in a day so they could cram in 4 start/finish towns to pocket more cash.

ASO will take money from the highest bidder, so on that count Yorkshire, and our traditionally long pockets and short arms might be at a disadvantage.

As someone else said though, all the money in the world doesn't help if the logistics of housing and moving thousands of people every day don't stack up.

Where I'm from in the Holderness plain it's pan-flat so would be great for a sprint-finish prologue or long time trial. They could then get the overnight Hull-Zeebruge ferry and then loop anti clockwise round France proper down to the Pyrenees then over to the Alps to fight it out.

I was at the London prologue a few years ago and it was a great success from a spectator point of view - I think with the improved status of pro cycling in the UK this could only be a good thing.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Yeah...but Yorkshire ffs? They'd expect them to be riding penny fathings in plus 4's no, sorry it's a silly idea

In reply to Tiberius:

Also, from what I remember of growing up in Hull, it won't do much to help rid the sport of drugs.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Eyup, perhaps they need to think about doing some serious road surface works, or the Peloton may think they're back on the pavé and make a doomed break for Paris.

In reply to Tall Clare: Would they compete for the yellow flat cap???

In reply to Tall Clare:

They can do V210 - the Ilkley CC hilly 10 TT

Something involving Fleet Moss, Embsay Moor, back of fountains Fell and Greenside then add snow (warm snow it is July after all).

Sorted

In reply to johnj:


TdF went by my house on the starting stage when they came to Ireland in 98, as Stephen Roche is from our village/suburb. Anyways back to your point every single inch of road the tour travelled over when it came here was resurfaced. I believe it may be part of the tour's requirements when travelling outside of the usual areas. Bikers (as in motor) and car nuts are still raving about it as the resurfacing works in the Wicklow Mountains has produced some of the best driving roads in the country.

In reply to John Rushby:
How about "The Strines, they could do a few circuits around that part of the world, or Rosedale chimney, now that would sort out the climbers from the chancers.lol

In reply to Enty:

waterbikes New York to Calais would be some event

In reply to Frank4short:

Hello mate, long time and all, same village as Stephen Roche eh nice, I was on the hill about 2k from the finish at La Plagne in 87 when he pulled that result out of the bag. Happy days.
Yorkshire could put a decent stage together then if the got the budget to put some surfaces on, would be a good stage.

In reply to Tall Clare:

My husband was just telling me about the Milk Race (The Round Britain) from some years ago (1990?) when some of the top riders from the Tour De France came over and were laughing at the British altering their gearing for doing Rosedale Chimney. The British riders had the last laugh though as some of the others were apparently practically crying from the climb.