Yorkshire Hailed For ‘grandest’ Grand Depart
2.5 million spectators have lined the route of the Tour de France during two days which the race’s organisers have hailed as ‘the grandest’ Grand Depart of all time.
Enthusiasm was such that organisers and police had to redirect crowds from certain locations, with some riders expressing concerns for their own and crowd safety given the volume of people on the roads.
‘My ears are ringing now; it was like being in a disco for four hours,’ said Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, who added that the Tour’s riders has responded with delight at the level of interest, but warned ‘It is quite dangerous at times.’
The event is the fourth time the Tour de France has visited British shores. Its organisers, ASO, praised the weekend not only as the best of those, but the greatest Grand Depart in a history that stretches back more than 100 years.
‘When you said you would deliver the grandest Grand Depart it was the truth,’ said race director Christian Prudhomme to the BBC. ‘You have raised the bar for all future hosts of the Tour de France.’
The 2015 edition of the race will begin in Utrecht in the Netherlands.
