articles/Sport/tour-de-france-page1

Tour De France - Yorkshire turns'I' Colour of 'I' Brass - part 1 of 1

by Mike McNamee Published 01/08/2014

The local constabulary joined in the fun with a very realistic Yorkshire Terrier snapping at the passing tourists!

We stay with the wheeled sport theme, moving on to the Tour de France. The McNamees spent some time in the Lake District, testing bags, lenses and tripods before moving over to Ilkley to take in some of the Tour. Yorkshire, it has to be said, had taken the whole thing to its heart; Ilkley was painted yellow and everywhere we went there were huge crowds and a fabulous party atmosphere. Any nay sayers peddling the 'it's all a waste of money' line can reflect on long stretches of roads free from potholes and long stretches of supermarket shelves stripped bare - the local ASDA did £40,000 extra business in a single day! Estimates vary, but one report claims 2.5 million people turned out across Yorkshire with 60,000 on Holme Moss alone - so many in fact that the Tour was brought to a standstill at one stage; you could just see the double white lines up the centre of the road but not enough for a peloton.

Photographically, this is a tough shoot. The uphill sections are slow moving but the crowds are massive and unruly; the downhill sections are less populated but at one of our patches the riders came by at just on 50mph, (some 3,000 metres from the finish in Harrogate). In terms of getting a good sight-line of the riders, the outskirts of a busy town seem good; we had plenty of room some 50 yards from the last house in Ilkley and had only the motorcycle outriders to worry about. In terms of picking out a particular cyclist the chances are remote. We got a shot of Chris Froome but only realised it when reviewing the frames later. In the next article Damian warns against gunning the motor drive, but in this instance you have no other option, once the riders have come level with you - blink and it's all over! Judging by the reception that the Tour got we might well be doing it all again next year!

• Tour De France - Yorkshire turns'I' Colour of 'I' Brass page 1
  

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