Tour pundits are experts on their sport

WITH regard to comments made by Professor Double (The Yorkshire Post, July 8) – followers of cycle racing will totally disagree with his comments about the ITV commentators.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are expert commentators, their experience gained as both professional riders and organisers, they have been commentating for several years on all major cycle racing events worldwide.

They most certainly are not totally incompetent. If they were totally ignorant of geography and cannot follow a map, they made a very good job of informing viewers of the topography and landmarks of the route as the race progressed.

Paul has always added extra information, as I am sure followers of the Tour de France will agree, yes there were some errors, he did confuse Woodhead and Ladybower.

To say this was “crass in the extreme” is not only hurtful it is totally inaccurate, Professor Double should check the definition of crass (showing no intelligence or sensitivity). In fact it is his comment that is crass!

Regarding the error with Harworth/Haworth, did Mr Sheridan not hear the apology and the observation that not all the Brontë sisters are buried at Haworth?

As regards the mispronunciations, there are lots of Yorkshire folk who pronounce some of our county’s place names differently. Well done to all who organised this year’s Grand Départ.

From: Elisabeth Baker, Broomhill Crescent, Leeds.

AS one of those who is lucky enough to live close to the route, I have been following the correspondence about le Tour with interest. However, I was surprised to read in Barbara Batten’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, July 9) that she thought that BBC commentators would have done a more accurate job than did the ITV team. Has she forgotten the absolute shambles which the BBC made of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee river pageant?

From: Malcolm Daniels, Eastend, Ampleforth, York.

WELL done to Gary Verity and all involved in the Grand Départ. What a wonderful showcase for Yorkshire.

In my opinion the two commentators did a first class job – they were commentators on a cycle race! The fact that they offered information on the various parts of the county as the race progressed was a bonus. So, let’s stop all the moaning and reflect on a wonderful two days for Yorkshire.

From: Paul Nightingale, The Vinery, Howden.

I COMPLETELY fail to understand the level of criticism aimed at Northern Rail for the service they provided to Harrogate for the spectators wanting to watch the Tour.

After all, the line from York to Leeds is little more than a rural branch line. I felt the company ran as many trains in each direction as they could, and there were plenty of staff on hand giving out advice and bottles of water.

From: M Patterson, Nottingham.

AS A non-Yorkshireman I’d like to say a big thanks to Yorkshire for the weekend. My parents and I just spent watching the Tour de France in and around Holmfirth with thousands of fellow spectators. It was an unforgettable experience.

But I also need to voice our feelings of disappointment and some anger about the campsite we stayed at above Holmfirth.

The single biggest problem was the claim that the camp was just a 35 minute walk from Holme Moss.

All I can say after our lengthy walk to Holme Moss on Sunday is that this must be 35 minutes as timed by a fell runner; for my parents, both in their 70s, who booked the campsite based on its claimed nearness to the race, the walk was a two-hour trek from hell.

From: Coun Jim Clark, Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate, Coun Richard Cooper, Leader of Harrogate Borough Council.

AFTER 18 months of hard work, the eyes of a global audience, as well as several hundred thousand visitors, fell on the Harrogate district for the Yorkshire Grand Départ.

We have been overwhelmed by the number of congratulatory messages we have received from around the world. Even after the event, the speed with which the clean-up operation took place was outstanding.

It would be wrong to single out one person or one event, but we can’t fail to say thank you to each and every person who knitted a little Tour de France jersey we used as bunting. We asked for 3,000, we thought we would get 10,000 but a massive 23,000 were received. And who could fail to be impressed with the number of properties displaying painted yellow bikes and other creative pieces? There is no doubt that Yorkshire is a county now well known around the world for all it has to offer. We are rightly proud and grateful to everyone involved – let the legacy begin.

From: Terry Morrell, Prunus Avenue, Willerby, East Yorkshire.

LE Tour, if we do ‘owt’ in Yorkshire we do it ‘reet’.

From: CD Metcalfe, Bradford.

IN reply to A Jeffrey (The Yorkshire Post, July 8) regarding closed shops in Wetherby for the Tour de France, perhaps they had knowledge of what happened in Ilkley the previous day. Marshalls prevented anyone from going to any shop in the town centre, including shop staff trying to get to work.