Around 5,000 amateur cyclists are expected to take part in the Tour de Yorkshire Sportive race – including 56 riders from Huddersfield – when it passes through Kirklees on Sunday, April 30.
Organisers expect the first flurry of cyclists to enter Hade Edge at 7am, well in advance of the professional Tour. They will ride through Holmfirth, Honley, Farnley Tyas, Highburton and Emley before heading into Barnsley at around 1.30pm. The 100km circular route also takes in Clayton West and Silkstone.
Sportive cyclists ride under the normal rules of the road and there are no road closures planned for this race. Most riders will be fund-raising for the Tour’s official 2017 charity the Alzheimer’s Society.
The entire Stage 3 Tour de Yorkshire, which travels from Bradford to Sheffield via Brighouse, Huddersfield and Holmfirth, will travel through Kirklees in the afternoon – from around 3.20pm (Cleckheaton) to 4.15pm (Hade Edge).
Kirklees Council has announced a number of parking restrictions from noon until 5pm during the race. Roads affected include Dalton Bank Road, Nettleton Road and Sutton Avenue in Dalton; Woodsome Road and Honley Road in Honley; and Huddersfield Road and Dunford Road in Holmfirth. Parking restrictions will apply to all.
The roads used during the race, however, will only be subject to a programme of rolling closures as the cyclists pass through, which means that the vast majority of roads will only be closed for a matter of minutes.
There are a number of key vantage points along the route for race supporters, including Clifton Common in Brighouse, around 3pm; Colnebridge (where the Royal and Ancient pub is hosting a Tour fund-raising event for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance) at 3.45pm; Waterloo Road and Penistone Road at 3.40pm; Farnley Tyas at 3.50; Huddersfield Road, Honley, 4pm; and Hade Edge at 4.15pm. (All times are approximate).
This is the third year of the Tour de Yorkshire and will take the posse of professional elite male riders from Bridlington to Sheffield. The women’s race is on Saturday, April 29, and will cover Stage 2 from Tadcaster to Harrogate.
