Tour de France hosts begin dressing region for race day

Leeds City Council leader Keith Wakefield (left) and the council's cycling champion Coun Roger Harington outside Leeds Town HallLeeds City Council leader Keith Wakefield (left) and the council's cycling champion Coun Roger Harington outside Leeds Town Hall
Leeds City Council leader Keith Wakefield (left) and the council's cycling champion Coun Roger Harington outside Leeds Town Hall
Landmarks staging the start and finish of Yorkshire’s Tour de France Grand Depart stages this summer look set to be decorated with a series of special Tour logos.

Leeds Town Hall, which overlooks the Headrow start line to the first stage of this year’s iconic race, has been draped in Leeds City Council’s brand new ‘Cycling Starts Here’ Tour logo ahead of the big send off on July 5.

Elsewhere Harrogate Borough Council’s ‘Harrogate District Proud Hosts’ branding is to be released this week as the town prepares to dress windows, lamp posts and banners to welcome the stage one finale on the same day, with home support hoping to see Mark Cavendish – whose mother is from Harrogate – ride to glory.

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July 6 stage two start host City of York Council has already been busy promoting its ‘Experience the Race’ catchline by branding its camping and caravan parks, while details of Sheffield City Council’s branding is still to come.

The logos are to be used by the authorities to decorate the respective cities, while Leeds in particular is hoping to use its logo help the city’s cyclists benefit from the Tour’s historic visit for years to come.

Coun Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “With this brand we wanted to create something unique for Leeds to demonstrate the immense pride we feel as the start city for this year’s Tour de France. The Grand Depart is going to be like nothing the city has ever seen before and we want everyone in Leeds to be part of the excitement as we build up to July.

“The logo looks very distinctive and modern, with the skyline celebrating both the history of Leeds as well as its future, and we hope it will prove popular across the city for people to identify with around the Grand Depart and other cycling events and activities to come.”

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The Leeds logo will appear on banners and promotional dressing, while businesses, schools and communities are invited to use it so that all parts of the city can celebrate Le Tour.

It will complement both the official Tour de France Grand Depart branding and the Cycle Yorkshire county-wide legacy visuals.

The 2014 Tour de France begins in Leeds on Saturday 5 July, with stage one taking the riders 190km to Harrogate.

Stage two on Sunday 6 July is 200km from York to Sheffield, while stage three on Monday 7 July is 159km from Cambridge to London.

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It is estimated that 98 per cent of the population of Yorkshire will be within an hour of the route during its two days in the county, with the economic benefit expected to be in excess of £100m.

Visit www.yorkshire.com/le-tour-yorkshire for information.

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