We’ve been excited by the prospect of the Tour de France passing through Yorkshire for quite some time. Having the world’s largest single sporting race so close to home is a once in a lifetime opportunity to join in with the spectacle… Of course with around one-million spectators along the course of this, the first stage of the event, we knew that getting a good spot to watch would be tricky. Therefore we opted to head out on Friday evening and to camp as near as we could thus avoiding the mêlée on Saturday morning. Part of our fun was to enjoy a take-away curry, from Kirkby Stephen, sat at the side of the road listening to the rain hammering down outside. What would the weather be like for the race?
When we awoke in the morning it was dry – hooray – and sunny – double hooray!
We’d chosen the summit of the category 3 hill climb at Buttertubs as our vantage point hoping that the peloton would be travelling a little slower at this point to allow us to get a good view.
With the race not expected to reach the pass until around 2.30pm we had seven (yes, 7!) hours to build up to the main event. We started off with a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich. Then we took a walk in both directions from our camp; first to the Mountain Rescue encampment; and then down towards Hawes where the official finish line of the hill climb was located. This is where we stopped for the final few hours of build up before the peloton arrived.
We saw a few friends there too, Zac and Sarah, and Syd and Eileen. We had hoped to see Justin and Chris, and Keith and Fiona too, but they had based themselves further down the road.
The circus kicked off with endless processions of fantastically decorated vehicles, many of which were throwing goodies out to the assembled crowds: seeds, hats, sweets, advertising, cycle clips, etc. There were “official merchandise” retail opportunities too. Just £20 for a bag, cap, and t-shirt! Needless to say we didn’t buy one. Perhaps the most amusing and unexpected members of the endless procession were the police. Many of the police motor-cycles stopped and posed, put their hands out as they passed for high-fives, or stopped to crack a joke!
The crowd steadily built throughout – there were around one million spectators along the route!
Lots of the people arrived by cycle power, savouring the experience of riding a portion of the Tour de France and crossing the finish line of the hill climb. The assembled crowd made a special effort to cheer-on the youngest to ride across the line! An absolutely brilliant atmosphere!
After a couple of hours of continuous entertainment the vehicles changed from circus-style to race-style. Then there was a pause of 15 minutes or so. Next the helicopters arrived. And finally Jens Voigt, who’d made a breakaway, appeared! Wow those guys go fast … up hill! I knew immediately it was a significant breakaway as there were support vehicles between Jens and the peloton. However, a few moments later the peloton of some 200 riders – complete with the likes of Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish – whizzed by in a flash. It was over. We’d been there when Le Tour de France 2014 started in Yorkshire. Awesome!
Here’s a selection of hundreds of pictures we took…
Yeah, that’s Ingleborough in the background!
Looks like fun.
I’m speculating what the chap in the Assistance Medicale car was trying to do to/for the rider….or perhaps the rider pulled him out?!
The medical assistance appeared to consist of spraying something on to the exposed grazed skin. His shorts where quite badly ripped and lots of sore skin was on display. I think they are allowed to hold on to the medical car while being treated for up to three minutes. Quite clever of him though to seek assistance on the up-hill section! 😛
I was in Masham a couple of weeks ago, and was astonished at the amount of TdF stuff still evident in the surrounding villages – bunting, yellow bikes in the most unlikely places, chalked messages on the roads – even tiny knitted shirts strung across streets & on house walls. The locals certainly entered into the spirit of it – the French must have been surprised at how enthusiastic we were.We occasionally came across lone cyclists in ‘gear’ & couldn’t resist shouting ‘you’re too late, mate – they’ve already finished’!