Yorkshire TourMakers On Board

Volunteers have been recruited to welcome spectators to the first ever Tour de Yorkshire international cycle race in May.

Following the success of last year’s Tour de France Grand Départ, where nearly 10,000 volunteers welcomed more than three million spectators from all over the world, Welcome to Yorkshire has asked some of the Tour Makers to support this year’s inaugural three-day race.

For the Tour de Yorkshire, a smaller number – just under 2,000 volunteers – will help give a warm Yorkshire welcome to up to one million people that are expected to turn out for the three stages for the race as it weaves its way through the county.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Following the success of the Tour Maker programme last year, we are delighted to be able to welcome back some of the volunteers to help ensure this year’s inaugural Tour de Yorkshire is a fantastic event and everyone gets a warm Yorkshire welcome.”

The Tour Makers have already completed a training programme for the Tour de France Grand Départ and will now have additional training from West Yorkshire Police at their headquarters in Wakefield over the next couple of months. A special training programme has been developed for this by Sheffield Hallam University.

Mark Milsom, assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, said: “West Yorkshire Police are delighted to be involved in training the Tour Makers for this year’s race, to make sure that everyone attending the event has an enjoyable and safe time.”

Stage one of the Tour de Yorkshire, on Friday 1st May, will start in Bridlington and finish in Scarborough. Stage two, on Saturday 2nd May, will start in Selby and finish in York and stage three, on Sunday 3rd May, will start in Wakefield and finish in Leeds.

The race will be shown live on television in the UK, on Eurosport in countries around the world, and a huge television audience is expected.