A selection of photos from my own day on the route of Le Grand Depart in the Yorkshire Dales, just outside a village called Threshfield near Grassington.
It was amazing! Organisation was slick but low key. Policing was minimal and there were no muppets driving the wrong way on roads temporarily designated one-way ! A real feel good factor reigned throughout and I felt very proud to call Yorkshire home.
As you see, we were right on the verge of a narrow country road. The cyclists were silent as they passed except for a whoosh of air and multitude of tires on tarmac.
Very exciting to see the charismatic Jens Voigt – the oldest man in the race at 42 – pass in first place – he went on to gain the polka dot jersey for the first stage.
Nearby Grassington decked out with bikes, yellow planting and plenty of bunting.
TV Screen set up in a field to watch the rest of the race
Lisa Reiter - Sharing the Story 
July 10, 2014 at 1:15 pm
How exciting!
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 8:30 am
Oh my goodness – 42! He’s so old. Can you still ride when you’re 42? (Just kidding!) This looks like a wonderful day!
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 8:41 am
He’s such a funny guy as well – has the catch-phrase “shut up legs”
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 10:20 am
Sorry, I’m a bit naive. What does that one mean?
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 10:45 am
Hi Norah, Jens Voigt is well known for his articulation of how he copes with the gruelling mountains, along with his humour. You can buy plenty of merchandise with “shut up legs” on it and there’s a hashtag for it on Twitter etc. Here’s a little You-Tube clip of him http://youtu.be/RahvWjoU9Xc
and this longer interview gives a flavour of him – he’s one of those characters that grows on you as you see more of him! He’s obviously comfortable being himself. http://youtu.be/_Gaz0AiAxoc
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 11:01 am
Ha ha! That’s good. Thanks for clearing that up! 🙂
LikeLike
July 8, 2014 at 11:48 am
What an exciting event, Lisa. Like the rest of the country I watched it on the box, and it was lovely to see the support given to the riders. A brilliant day – certainly one to remember!
LikeLike
July 8, 2014 at 8:05 am
Great photos Sise, felt as If I was there myself. xx
LikeLike
July 10, 2014 at 10:40 am
You would have loved it – the atmosphere was amazing!
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 7:15 pm
It’s the atmosphere at these events that make them so special. You were lucky to be part of it and have what looked like prime position. The photos we saw on the television showed people crammed on top of each other along the route.
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Yes – we couldn’t have got to any of those busy summits on this day if we’d tried, so chose this wiggly bit of road so they’d have to slow at least a bit! It is incredible how close together they are – a wonder there aren’t many more crashes – quite a sight to see 🙂
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Lovely photo essay! It looks so green and lush, too. Quite the contrast to parched Texas, I tell ya! 🙂
p.s. Sorry I’ve fallen behind on your tweets & posts. I really fell behind on *everything* lately, it seems!
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 8:59 pm
Thanks Tui, a lovely complement from a travel photographer 😀
We’ve had more rain than usual and perfect grass growing temperatures! I’m sure we’re always greener than Texas but I’m betting this is the greenest July I’ve ever seen!
And no worries on the busy front – I’m drowning myself with no let up for a couple of months, so please don’t worry about it. Thanks for popping by today, Lisa xx
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Wow–that’s history in the making whizzing down your roads! And what quaint country roads they are! Cyclists are so colorful, just like the flowers. Great photos!
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 8:38 pm
Thank you – perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity although having laid on the worst hill for the whole tour AND great spectators (!) Yorkshire are hoping to host it again !
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 2:00 pm
That’s a lovely part of the country, Lisa, and looks like you enjoyed the day out. The Tour passed through ‘my’ national park yesterday, but I had to be elsewhere. I’m always quite nervous watching it on TV how the spectators can get so close to the race, sometimes even reaching out to touch the cyclists as they go by. I’m sure you’ll have been suitably restrained 😉 Hope it wasn’t too much of an anticlimax once those 45 seconds had passed!
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Surprisingly not much of an anticlimax. Not sure why either as we’d been on the roadside for about 3 hours before they finally came past! We then we meandered back to Grassington, pottered around and ate fish and chips and then watched the final hour of the race in glorious sunshine sat on the hill looking at the giant screen. (I had been a little worried I might be bored with hanging around for a 40 second burst of activity but there was plenty to chat about with friends and Max, ever the entertainer – was building up to commentate on it as if he were the son of Monty Python – I did apologise to our neighbours but they seemed amused enough!)
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Jealous? Moi. Never. Well done you Tykes.
LikeLike
July 7, 2014 at 8:45 pm
I really enjoyed it! Surprised myself as I’m not good at keeping still! There’s a whole menagerie of floats, cars, vans, Gendarmerie and Police who drive past before the cyclists and it keeps the anticipation going nicely. They were all waving and having an obviously good time too.
LikeLike