The Lloyds Tour of Britain men’s race has come speeding through East Yorkshire today.
The Hull to Beverley leg of the huge cycle race started at East Park in the city, making its way around a circuit of the region’s roads, passing through towns and villages with eager spectators waving and cheering them on. This stage of the event was concluding this afternoon at Beverley Racecourse, where Cllr Nick Coultish, East Riding Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure, tourism and planning, was waiting to make a presentation to the first finisher.
He said it was “an absolute pleasure” to be welcoming such a prestige event back to the county – it last visited the East Riding three years ago. “It’s a good thing and it gets lots of families involved,” said Cllr Coultish.
He had been watching live coverage of the race, and the various communities it had been passing through, on TV. His impression was everyone was “really enjoying it”, he said.
A Family Cycling Festival was organised at East Park to inspire and entertain families visiting as part of Tour Britain. A dedicated Fan Zone was also created in Beverley.
British Cycling said the chosen route for this leg would “showcase the best of East Yorkshire” and Cllr Coultish echoed this. “Hopefully people will see this and it will make them want to come here and also encourage them to invest here,” he said.
East Riding Council, Hull City Council and the Mayoralty of Hull and East Yorkshire had all worked together to bring the cycling event back to the area. Cllr Coultish said he thought it was a positive thing for people to see all the political groups working in partnership.
British Cycling said: “Both Hull and Beverley have a strong history with elite cycling events. The region has consistently produced memorable racing and large crowds whenever the Tour has visited.”
The Tour of Britain began in Lincoln on Wednesday and will finish in the Scottish Borders on Sunday. You can see show Hull Live photographer Donna Clifford and reader Bob Carter have captured the spirit of the day in our gallery of pictures below.