Grand banners mark the way for cycling depart from Leeds

Coun Lucinda Yeadon, Welcome to Yorkshire's Gary Verity and Coun Keith Wakefield with banner on The Headrow start line. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

The start line for the Tour de France Grand Depart has been lined with official banners as the July 5 send off approaches.

The roadside branding along The Headrow outside Leeds Art Gallery and the city’s town hall is the first physical sign to tee up the world famous race’s well-awaited arrival in the region.

The official Grand Depart logo, which will be seen on and around the route, is complemented by Leeds City Council’s ‘Cycling Starts Here’ emblem aimed to promote wider cycling activity in the area.

Council leader Coun Keith Wakefield said: “The banners will be seen by thousands of people in the weeks and months to come providing an exciting symbol of the once-in-a-lifetime event we can all enjoy.”

Stage one of the Tour will roll into action outside Leeds Town Hall on July 5 from 11.10am, with the greatest cyclists on the planet riding 190km to Harrogate.

The second stage on July 6 is 200km from York to Sheffield, while stage three runs from Cambridge to London the following day.

Chief executive of Tour bid winners Welcome to Yorkshire, Gary Verity, said: “Activity around the Grand Depart is really revving up.”

Visit www.leeds.gov.uk/granddepartleeds.