ANYONE who has watched the Tour de France on television will know what a spectacular event it is.
Thousands line the route to see elite sportsmen put to the test. Brits are fast becoming just as besotted with cycling as many of our European counterparts.
And that’s as a spectator sport just as much as getting on your bike and enjoying the great outdoors.
Cycling has become a big draw in Britain so the news that the world’s biggest single sporting event is not just heading across the Channel but is coming to West Yorkshire and, quite possibly, Huddersfield is brilliant.
Yes, it will bring with it an economic bonanza for the whole region as tourists and cycling fans follow the tour.
But what it will also do is raise the area’s profile and give the whole community a massive confidence boost. After all, the feelgood factor inspired by the Olympics lingers on, particularly among the sporting organisations still feeling the benefit of a home Games.
Hopefully, there will be something of that spirit ready to rekindle when the Tour may well hit the hills of the Holme Valley in July 2014.
