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| Leeds countdown to Yorkshire's Tour de France start | Leeds countdown to Yorkshire's Tour de France start |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The year-long countdown to the opening of the 101st Tour de France in Yorkshire will be marked by 100 schoolchildren on bikes. | |
| Leeds will host the start of the race on 5 July 2014 with riders setting off from The Headrow in the city centre. | Leeds will host the start of the race on 5 July 2014 with riders setting off from The Headrow in the city centre. |
| Children from schools in Harrogate, Hull and Leeds will be on bikes to launch the official countdown. | |
| Yorkshire-based cyclists Dean Downing and Brian Robinson are expected to attend the event. | Yorkshire-based cyclists Dean Downing and Brian Robinson are expected to attend the event. |
| A section of The Headrow will be closed around Leeds Art Gallery for the launch between 14:30 and 15:30 BST. | |
| Downing, who rides for team Madison Genesis and is from Rotherham, said: "Yorkshire will have experienced nothing like the Tour de France before. | Downing, who rides for team Madison Genesis and is from Rotherham, said: "Yorkshire will have experienced nothing like the Tour de France before. |
| "It will be an amazing moment for everyone in the county and I am sure the whole of Yorkshire will get behind the Grand Depart." | "It will be an amazing moment for everyone in the county and I am sure the whole of Yorkshire will get behind the Grand Depart." |
| Robinson, 82, from Mirfield, was the first British rider to finish the race and the first to complete a stage of the Tour in 1958. | Robinson, 82, from Mirfield, was the first British rider to finish the race and the first to complete a stage of the Tour in 1958. |
| 'Inspire new generation' | 'Inspire new generation' |
| Ben Macklin, 13, a pupil at The Sirius Academy in Hull, said: "It is amazing to think the world's greatest cyclists are coming to Yorkshire next year. | Ben Macklin, 13, a pupil at The Sirius Academy in Hull, said: "It is amazing to think the world's greatest cyclists are coming to Yorkshire next year. |
| "I am so proud that they will be riding in [Yorkshire], I will definitely be there to see them. It is going to be a weekend that I will remember for the rest of my life." | "I am so proud that they will be riding in [Yorkshire], I will definitely be there to see them. It is going to be a weekend that I will remember for the rest of my life." |
| Tourist authority Welcome to Yorkshire said the Grand Depart would "mark one of the greatest days in Yorkshire's long and proud history". | Tourist authority Welcome to Yorkshire said the Grand Depart would "mark one of the greatest days in Yorkshire's long and proud history". |
| Chief executive Gary Verity said: "The Tour de France will put Yorkshire on the map across the world and hopefully inspire a new generation of children to take up the sport and achieve great things." | Chief executive Gary Verity said: "The Tour de France will put Yorkshire on the map across the world and hopefully inspire a new generation of children to take up the sport and achieve great things." |
| The first stage of the 101st Tour will take in the Yorkshire Dales before finishing in Harrogate. | The first stage of the 101st Tour will take in the Yorkshire Dales before finishing in Harrogate. |
| Stage two starts in York and passes through Keighley and Huddersfield on the way to Sheffield. | Stage two starts in York and passes through Keighley and Huddersfield on the way to Sheffield. |
| The event will spend two days in Yorkshire. | The event will spend two days in Yorkshire. |
| The race last visited the UK in 2007, when London hosted the prologue and the opening stage. | The race last visited the UK in 2007, when London hosted the prologue and the opening stage. |