Cycle the Dales with just 340 days to go before Le Tour is in Yorkshire

The Tour de France – the world’s biggest annual sporting event – celebrates its 101st running with three days in the UK in 2014. A spectacular ‘Grand Depart’ in Leeds on 5th July will see hordes of tourists flock to ‘God’s own county’. The route the racers will use goes through some incredible scenery and if you want to get there before the pros do, the Yorkshire Dales National Park has launched a ‘cycle the Dales’ website which promotes the region for cyclists. The website has route maps for family rides, one day rides and multi-day rides as well as information on great climbs and other useful information for cycling in the dales.

The Yorkshire Dales – with some of tge finest landscapes in the country, with limestone formations contrasting with the heather clad moorlands and valley bottoms full of meadows, dry stone walls and scattered with field barns – will be part of stage one of the Tour de France.

Cycling is the perfect way to explore the area. You get to see more and feel more in touch with the countryside around you, and you can be fully justified in stopping for a slab of cake or a pint of locally brewed beer.

There are fabulous cycling opportunities, from gentle routes in the valleys to some challenging climbs over the moorland that separates them. From the wild and remote northern dales to the rolling farmland in the east, the cycling is always memorable for the fantastic scenery and beautiful villages.

Just want a reminder for when Le Tour will be in Yorkshire? The ‘cycle the Dales’ website has a countdown clock.