Volunteer army saddles up for Tour de Yorkshire duty

Organisers today confirmed that 1,800 people will be acting as Tour Makers during the cycling event, a 40 per cent increase on the figure for last year.

They will be giving advice and a warm welcome to fans attending next month’s sporting extravaganza, which is for the first time taking place over four days rather than three.

Two thirds of the Tour Maker army assembled for the event are returning volunteers from previous years. People signed up to help are drawn from a broader range of geographical areas than has been the case in the past while there has also been a rise in the number of university students getting involved.

This year’s volunteers include 40 staff from Sky Betting & Gaming, the Leeds-based tech company that is supplying the Tour Makers with branded kit. Sky Betting & Gaming chief executive Richard Flint said: “We have so many cycling fans within the business and this partnership allows our people to get involved behind the scenes in an event which showcases both Yorkshire and our unbridled passion for sport.”

Running from May 3 to 6, the Tour de Yorkshire is being staged by the Welcome To Yorkshire tourism agency and the Amaury Sport Organisation.

Its men’s race runs from Beverley to Doncaster on day one, Barnsley to Ilkley on day two, Richmond to Scarborough on day three and Halifax to Leeds on day four. A women’s race is being held on the first two days of the event while thousands of amateur cyclists will take part in the Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride in and around Leeds on its final day.

Sky Betting & Gaming will be operating an activity zone in the Tour Village, which will be open to the public in Leeds’s Millennium Square from April 28 to May 6.