The Tour de Yorkshire route was unveiled today, and this is really becoming an important regular fixture in the calendar.
It is a great way to promote the North, and makes you realise how beautiful the county of Yorkshire really is.
There are plenty of tourism businesses around the county, so a regular event such as this one will no doubt provide a massive boost for the economy at a time when people are struggling financially.
It isn’t just the B&Bs and hotels that must be rubbing their hands with glee though – the knock-on effect of so many people being in Yorkshire will also have a great impact on other businesses, particularly restaurants and caterers.
Of course, the event started when Le Tour de France began in Yorkshire in 2014. It showcased what the county had to offer perfectly so, quite rightly, Yorkshire tourism chiefs wanted to continue some of that amazing good press to get the area in the public eye on a more consistent basis. It would have been a shame to not take advantage of that, so fair play to the organisers on capitalising on this chance.
Now it is an event which continues to attract the top cyclists in the world, so the three-day extravaganza really is a prize worth winning.
It is also something that restores a bit of our national pride at what a beautiful country we live in. British people tend to be self-effacing, and we don’t always appreciate the beauty that is on our own doorstep, so it is great that we have an event like this which we can shout out about to the rest of the world.
The route this year will see stages start and finish in Bradford, Bridlington, Fox Valley in Sheffield, Harrogate, Scarborough and Tadcaster.
This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses particularly in those areas to really take advantage of the extra tourism that will be flooding in between April 28 and 30.