Less than a week after the finale of the 100th Tour de France, won by Chris Froome (Team Sky), race director Christian Prudhomme has paid a flying visit to Yorkshire to see preparations for the 2014 grand depart.
He visited sections of the route that are being laid with fresh tar, and opened a bike bank in York, accompanied by Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity and North Yorkshire County Council leader John Weighell.
The visit came after confirmation yesterday that the UK government will contribute £10m towards hosting the opening stages of next year's race, which starts on 5 July 2014.