YP wants you to join us for Tour de France

Welcoming the world’s most watched annual sporting event could well be Yorkshire’s greatest ever coup.
The Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol LuceThe Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol Luce
The Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol Luce

And with the Tour de France’s Grand Depart just a matter of months away, the Yorkshire Post is encouraging readers to embrace the festival spirit.

Through a series of campaigns, giveaways and promotions the county’s national newspaper will add to in-depth, dedicated Le Tour coverage as we bid to put you at the heart of the action.

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As we gear up for the landmark event, Team Sky rider and Leeds lad Josh Edmondson is writing a monthly column from Saturday, as we follow our cycling prospects right to the start line outside Leeds Town Hall on July 5.

The Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol LuceThe Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol Luce
The Yorkshire Arts Festival 2014: Theater Tol Luce

On the same day Edmondson will also star in our free Tour Talk podcast featuring cycling journalists Nick Westby and Richard Fidler along with Tour de France news reporter Jonathan Brown.

Regular Tour de France articles will invite readers’ picture submissions, while providing all the news updates and information you need to capitalise on what is possibly the greatest sporting attraction Yorkshire will ever host.

On top of regular in-paper Tour coverage in the lead up to July, we are preparing a 32-page supplement for our March 28 issue as the countdown continues to stages one and two of the Grand Depart.

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Nicola Furbisher, managing editor of the Yorkshire Post, said: “This is a huge event for the county and we want to make sure that everybody, whether they like cycling or not, feels part of this glorious festival.

“We’re inviting everyone to be part of it. We’re looking for readers to join in with our future campaigns on what will be a fantastic adventure.”

Our two-wheeled push will begin with the Let’s Get Cycling legacy campaign, as we bid to bring cycling to everyone from school pupils and church groups to businesses and Yorkshire families from March 3.

We want to get as many people on their bikes as possible, embracing Ride to Work Day on June 16, issuing beginner’s guides, health advice, how-to videos and kit giveaways to ensure Le Tour has a lasting impact on our region.

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With your help, the YP also plans to turn Yorkshire yellow by asking readers to send in their pictures of everything from yellow bunting and yellow clothing to yellow shop fronts and yellow garden arrangements.

The Yellow Yorkshire campaign, which will roll into action on March 24, aims to line both the Tour routes and the region with a memorable summer glow.

And as the start of the iconic race nears, we will follow a team of Yorkshire cyclists along both stage one and two of the Grand Depart in an eight-part Tykes on Tour series.

We will guide you through all the must-see sights en route as well as offer advice on riding and where to stay come race day.

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We also want our readers to show they’re giving cycling a go by inviting On Yer Bike! pictures, whether you’re riding to the shops or conquering an exhausting hill climb, from May 5.

Our whirlwind guided tour of the stages will also see a specially made YP static bicycle tour places such as Harrogate Spring Flower Show, York’s Coppergate Shopping Centre and our Le Grand DeParty event at Yorkshire Food and Drink Live, in Leeds, on June 6, 7 and 8. Visitors can win prizes and take on our Go the Mile challenge.

The Yorkshire Post website has also been developed to include a special Tour de France tab, where you can find the latest Tour news and sports coverage, features, photo galleries, cycling profiles of legendary riders such as Beryl Burton and Barry Hoban as well as a Le Tour Tweets section linking to all major Tour Twitter feeds.

For everything Tour de France, visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/tdf.

GET INVOLVED IN CYCLING SPECIALS

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We want you on board to help to make the two-stage visit of the Tour de France everything it can be.

Through an interactive series of campaigns, including Yellow Yorkshire and On Yer Bike!, we hope to see readers join in and get creative.

You can tweet your pictures and comments to our @leedsnews Twitter handle using the hashtag #TDFYorks or post them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/yep.newspaper.

The Yorkshire Post website has been developed to include a new Tour de France tab, where you can find the latest news and sports coverage and comment on our stories. Visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/tdf.

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To speak to our Tour de France news reporter Jonathan Brown, email [email protected], tweet @jonnybrownyep or call 0113 2388134.

For advertising email Joanna Sier at [email protected], tweet @joannasier or call 0113 2388689.