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OL and GSAL make big plans for Le Tour de France Yorkshire

Friday 24 May 2013

WEB York Minster - le tour yorkshire large

OL Gary Verity has played a major role in bringing the world’s greatest cycling race, the Tour de France, to the county next year.

And GSAL will have its own key part in the occasion, with a series of events planned to make the most of its vantage point on the official route, as the race leaves Leeds along the A61 and heads out to the Yorkshire Dales.

Gary, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire (WTF), and his team employed some high profile tactics to fight off serious international competition from the likes of Barcelona, Berlin, Florence and Edinburgh to host Le Grand Départ, the opening stages of the prestigious event.

Among the many tactics used to sway the tour’s organisers in favour of Yorkshire was a stunning promotional film highlighting the dramatic Yorkshire landscape.

Yorkshire’s bid was also helped by the British cycling success stories of Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, who publicly backed Yorkshire. Cavendish’s uncle, Russell Davidson, who lives in Harrogate, was involved in the bid and was part of the Yorkshire delegation which went to Paris with Gary Verity.

French delegates, including Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, visited Yorkshire where Gary showed them the best of the region.

The 2014 Grand Départ will take place over two days, beginning in Leeds on Saturday, July 5 and taking in Harrogate, York, Ripon and Sheffield before heading south to Cambridge and London.

GSAL will support the event with La Grande Fête on the Saturday, a family orientated day of activities for parents, pupils, staff, alumni and others with a close link to the school. The PFA Fun Day will be a core part of the programme, complemented with sports, tournaments, music and drama performances and other activities to create a range of entertainment throughout the day.

Special spectator areas will also be created to enable visitors to get a first class view of the riders as they race past the school gates.

Helen Clapham, director of external relations at GSAL, said: “This will be quite a spectacle! We really want to be a part of such a momentous occasion and to show our support for what will be the largest event to come to Yorkshire.

“The Tour is the world’s biggest annual sporting event and will be watched by 3.5bn people globally, which is the equivalent to a third of the world’s population spanning 190 countries.

“Our plans are still in their early stages, but watch this space for more details over the coming months.”

Photo courtesy Welcome to Yorkshire

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