Outside Leeds railway station, the bronze statue of the Black Prince driving his horse into battle now sports a knitted yellow jersey. In Wensleydale a giant bike has been built out of cheese. In Kettlewell 150 sheep have been painted yellow. In Cragg Vale a 12km piece of bunting, a world record, has been specially made by locals for the Tour de France.
In every city and town, village and hamlet, affection is expressed differently but the overriding effect is the same: Yorkshire has not only embraced France’s greatest sporting event, which begins here on Saturday, it has become smitten.
When the Tour last visited Britain in 2007, an estimated three million people throbbed the streets as the race snaked its way from London to Canterbury. The lines of those watching were often seven or eight deep. This year, however, organisers believe that six million could watch over the next three days.
Jens Voigt, the Tour’s oldest rider this year at 42, admits he has never seen any a buildup like it. “Every little village is beautifully decorated,” he said. “You can see the passion for the Tour.”
That passion was evident at the opening ceremony on Thursday, where 12,000 gathered in Leeds Arena to watch the riders being presented, and thousands more saw them pedal through the city. When the cyclists appeared on stage, to the accompaniment of flashing lights and an orchestra, the applause was lavish and indiscriminate.
Gary Verity, the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire – who brought the opening two stages of the Tour de France to the county – says the ceremony was “widely accepted” as the best in the event’s history. “The riders were blown away by it,” he said. “They are texting and ringing me to say we are so pumped up now.”
The race starts at midday on Saturday, when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be among those waving off the 198 riders at Harewood House, north of Leeds. Some pubs are opening at 5.30am to catch the early birds, and by 10am those hugging the roads and hillsides will begin to be greeted by the extraordinary sight of the caravane publicitaire – 180 odd-shaped sponsors’ vehicles that dispense gifts and unrelenting Euro-disco as they honk past. The caravane stretches along the road for 20km, and takes about 45 minutes to go through. By contrast the peloton will dash by in a streaky multicoloured haze.
The first stage, 190.5km from Leeds to Harrogate, takes in the dales and moors in an inverse horseshoe route, and includes three steep climbs – Kidstones Pass (dubbed Côte de Cray by the race organisers), Côte de Buttertubs and Côte de Grinton Moor. All of these will be popular viewing spots but Verity insists that there will be celebrations throughout the route. “This is carnival time for Yorkshire,” he said. “We are going to have a party and it’s going to start early and finish late wherever people are.”
For Daniel Ambler, a mechanic at a garage in Kettlewell, one of many locals with businesses directly on the route, the Tour’s arrival will mean some upheaval: in his case, they will not be able to serve any fuel. “Like a lot of people, I’ll be glad when it’s over,” he said. “But for our area of Upper Wharfedale and for the businesses here, in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, it can only be a good thing. The rest of the world will see how gorgeous it is here.”
Local resident Mudassir Mir, who will watch the first stage with his family, said the closures are worth it. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I’ve got three girls who are not going to see this again.” One of them, Halima, is playing in a steel band during the celebrations. Because the Tour passes her road, it is closed to vehicles and so she had to stay with her grandparents on Friday. She was too excited to mind.
The second stage from York to Sheffield on Sunday scuttles up Holme Moss and through Haworth, where the Brontë sisters wrote Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and also diverts briefly into Lancashire. During the 201km ride there are eight climbs: the landscapes are stunning but savage too.
For the third stage, on Monday, the peloton starts off in Cambridge and travels along a pancake-flat 155km course through parts of Cambridgeshire and Essex before dashing through the tourist-friendly sights of central London and concluding opposite Buckingham Palace. Such is the speed the riders will be going, the stage is expected to take only three hours and 25 minutes.
But for the next 24 hours the world’s attention will be on Leeds, where the French tricolore has joined the Union Jack on the civic hall and not even the forecast of grey skies and grizzly showers has dampened the mood. “How will it matter?” said Verity, offering a Gallic shrug of the shoulders. “It’s liquid sunshine as far as we are concerned.”