It is six months away but the excitement is already mounting.
More than 20,000 people have volunteered for Yorkshire's leg of the Tour de France in July – double the number needed.
They include many from the Huddersfield area who want to be involved when the world’s top cyclists come through Calderdale, Huddersfield and Holmfirth on July 6.
And a Huddersfield man with first-hand experience of the Tour believes the town could be in for a treat.
Mark Schofield, of Linthwaite, is a “veteran” of six Tours in France and has taken part in the amateur Etape du Tour, a mountain stage of the tour ridden by around 10,000 riders from around the world.
He and his wife Jane have also enjoyed the spectacle of the Tour itself and believes people in Huddersfield will love the razzmatazz of the cavalcade of vehicles that accompanies the event.
It can take two hours for the floats, support vehicles and sponsors’ lorries to pass through before the cyclists themselves arrive.
Mark said: “I’ve ridden the Etape six times, a tough but fantastic event.
“In 2010 we were staying locally to several stages of the Tour and instead of a week riding in the mountains we spent time watching the professionals.
“This was the Port de Bales a 19km pass that I had ridden a few days before. We were bussed in as close as possible, from there we walked into Mauleon – Barouse, bought provisions and set off up the pass.
“We found a lovely spot with a stream and where the Tour caravan would have room to throw freebies out.
“We walked miles up the pass but what a fantastic day.
“I hope the cavalcade comes to Huddersfield.
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The best places to see the action are in a village with a bar with TV, so you can see the cyclists in action and then watch the finish of the stage..
“Some of the floats are amazing – there are double beds, giant bottles and mock-up fire engines.
“It’s a really enjoyable appetiser to the main event of the cyclists.
“The key is to get a good spot early. I know in France people would drive to a stage in their motorhomes days in advance and spend their holiday there.
“They’d be there to watch the Tour go past and then settle down in front of their own TV set to watch coverage of the race.
“My personal preference was to find a good spot to watch the race live and then adjourn to a local bar for a good bottle of wine and the TV coverage.
“I think people are under-estimating how big this will be. They think they’ll be able to drive into Holmfirth an hour before the event to watch.
“There are hundreds of thousands from all over England and the rest of Europe who will want to do the same”.
The first stage, the Grand Depart, is from Leeds to Harrogate on July 5. The second stage is from York to Sheffield on July 6, taking in Calderdale, Huddersfield and Holme Moss.
Tourist board Welcome to Yorkshire said only 10,000 volunteers were needed, but enthusiasm had exceeded expectations.
Peter Dodd, director of Welcome to Yorkshire, said the volunteers would have a similar role to the London 2012 Olympic Games Makers.
“The Tour Makers will welcome people to Yorkshire.
“They'll be on hand at key public locations, transportation sites and spectator venues.
Be prepared to walk a fair way in – and back to your chosen transport.
Take clothes and food etc for all eventualities, bearing in mind the possible gridlock as everyone tries to leave at once – it could be a very long day.
Decide if you want daylong entertainment – and the crowds that go with it in a town centre
Or go for somewhere quieter away from the centres and be prepared to entertain yourself for a while.
The world’s top cyclists will meet the public in West Yorkshire this summer.
Hours before they take to the roads of the county for the Tour de France, the sports stars will be guests at a glittering ceremony.
The biggest ever Tour de France Team Presentation is set to take centre stage at the new first direct arena in Leeds. Following the success of hosting the recent BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, the arena will play home to the event on Thursday July 3, just two days before the Grand D�part takes place in Leeds city centre heralding the start of two Tour stages across Yorkshire and a third in the south.
The race takes in Calderdale, Huddersfield and Holmfirth on July 6. The event will be overseen by Martin Green, the Head of Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics, where he led the team who delivered the opening and closing ceremonies. The Team Presentation will showcase each team to mark the official arrival of the Tour de France – the world’s largest annual sporting event – of Yorkshire’s Grand Depart where two stages will take place on July 5 and 6 next year, with a third from Cambridge to London on July 7.
