Shoppers thought Le Tour had arrived early when they spotted double Olympic cycling champion Ed Clancy in Huddersfield town centre yesterday afternoon.
The five-times world champion was on his own Tour - a whistle-stop circuit of West Yorkshire towns in his role as Yorkshire Building Society’s ambassador for Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France.
He has spent the previous three days with building society staff, filming and joining them for a short leg of their own version of the cycle race. They are aiming to cycle slightly further than the 3,664 kilometres of the official Tour to raise money for Marie Curie cancer charity.
In Huddersfield he chatted to staff and customers at the New Street branch and signed autographs for fans. Staff were interested to know how his friends had reacted to his two gold medals.
Ed, who now live in Holmfirth, said: “It doesn’t happen overnight. You win the locals and then national trials first, it happens steadily over time, but I think it’s fair to say they were impressed with the gold medals!”
He brought his Beijing and London Olympics medals with him and said: “I forget the power of these medals.
“For me, they were about winning the Olympics with my mates and breaking world records, but a lot of people really enjoy getting close to the medals and holding them; it is a physical connection with the Olympics.”
The 29-year-old added: “The Tour has captured everyone’s attention. Cycling is booming and it couldn’t have come to Yorkshire at a better time.”
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.
Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here, the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here
To follow us on Twitter click here
