The excitement of international cycle racing - with a French flavour - returns to the diocese at the end of April with the Tour de Yorkshire 2017.
The routes on Day Two and Day Three, April 28th and 29th, will pass scores of our churches and already bell ringers are preparing to greet the Tour with a ‘wave’ of bells. Last year, 2016, around 2 million people came out to watch the race, which was televised – this year even more spectators are expected as the Tour returns to some of the favourite stretches of the 2014 Tour de France.
Welcome to Yorkshire is keen to team up with churches and others to get the Yorkshire Flag onto buildings that stand out. Some churches will be keen to welcome the crowds along the route with refreshments or car parking as they did in 2014. Packs and information are available online (click here) for organisations with more information about the route and organising events
On Saturday 29th April (Day Two of the Men’s race) there are two exciting races through Ripon 
Episcopal Area. The same route will be used for both the Women’s Tour De Yorkshire race and the men’s second day of racing. Cyclists in the two races will depart from Tadcaster, quickly racing through Wetherby and on through the villages of Kirk Deighton, North Deighton, Little Ribston and Goldsborough into Knaresborough. It’s then out to Ripley before heading up the Nidd Valley through Summerbridge to Pateley Bridge.
The cyclists will continue to climb to Ramsgill and Lofthouse before rising up over the moors to drop down into Masham. Turning south again they follow a familiar route from the 2014 Tour de France to Ripon, but then turn off the main road down the B roads around Fountains Abbey before going on to Bishop Thornton and Shaw Mills, towards the hamlet of Clint and on to Birstwith, back along the River Nidd to Hampsthwaite. Then it’s up onto the A59 towards Harrogate, turning right to follow exactly the same sprint finish that put paid to Mark Cavendish’s hopes in 2014 when he crashed out outside Betty’s Tea Rooms.
(Click on maps for link to interative Le Tour maps)
On Sunday 30th April, Day Three, the final day of the Men’s competition, reaches a climax with a start in the centre of Bradford. The route takes in three Episcopal Areas (Bradford, Ripon and Huddersfield)- setting off northwards, the Tour cycles through Shipley and then out over the hills towards Menston, Burley in Wharfedale and Ilkley before continuing on along a familiar 2014 route through Addingham and on towards Bolton Abbey, Burnsell and almost to Grassington before looping south through Linton towards Rylstone and Skipton, famous in 2014 for the giant yellow jersey on the church tower of Holy Trinity Church. Then its south to Keighley and the famous Haworth cobbled climb, through Oxenhope and over the moors to Queensbury and some hair-raising descending into Halifax. From there the route passes churches in Brighouse, Cleckheaton and Birstall then making a sharp turn south-westwards to Liversedge, Almondbury , Farnley Tyas, Honley, and Holmfirth before the Sheffield finish.
Church buildings have featured strongly in TV coverage of the race, their soaring towers presenting dramatic points of orientation for the riders and for the film crews as the race evolves. This year there is an opportunity for churches near the starts and finishes of each stage, and for churches sited in dominant locations, to offer to host Yorkshire flags on their towers or perhaps to innovate with local decorations as Skipton did in 2014.
Church bells have played a significant part in previous races and Rod Ismay co-ordinated the ringing for the Tour de France. (His story of church involvement and other community events linked to the bike races is in his recently published book “Bells & Bikes”.)
Rod said, “Church bells have played a very significant part in previous races, having featured in the Tour de France Opening Ceremony, in a special BBC Songs of Praise Tour de France edition and ringing out ahead of the riders on race day. Several churches have seized the opportunity to engage the crowds with tower open days and seek much needed new recruits to keep the bells ringing for the future.”
Some of the churches in the Diocese of Leeds on the route of this year’s Tour De Yorkshire include:
Saturday 29 April
Wetherby – St James; Kirk Deighton – All Saints. Knaresborough – St John The Baptist; Pateley Bridge – St Cuthbert; Masham – St Mary The Virgin; West Tanfield – St Nicholas; Ripon Cathedral ; Birstwith – St James The Apostle; Hampsthwaite – St Thomas a Becket; Harrogate – St Peter
Sunday 30 April
Bradford Cathedral; Shipley – St Paul Click; Ilkley – All Saints; Addingham – St Peter; Burnsall – St Wilfrid; Rylstone – St Peter; Skipton – Holy Trinity; Kildwick – St Andrew; Silsden – St James The Great; Keighley – St Andrew; Haworth – St Michael & All Angels; Oxenhope – St Mary The Virgin; Queensbury – Holy Trinity; Northowram – St Matthew; Halifax Minster – St John The Baptist; Brighouse – St Martin; Cleckheaton – St John The Evangelist; Birstall – St Peter; Holmfirth – Holy Trinity.
Please keep us informed at enews@leeds.anglican.org if your church is planning activities of any sort around this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.
For more on the Tour de Yorkshire and the route check www.letour.yorkshire.com – Race route; maps; timings and advice.
A useful 'Business Toolkit' with tips and ideas for local organisations is available online here
Bells and Bikes is available via Amazon; Waterstones; several Cathedral bookshops and direct from Rod on rismay@virginmedia.com