Talk about a sport even you remember?

Gosh, this topic is hard for me, I don’t really go to many sporting events, and it isn’t especially an interest of mine. However, I can think of one which enticed me to go and watch, I’ll tell you as much as I can about the event, how often it takes places and why it was, to me at least, interesting!

The sporting event I went to was Le Tour de France – except it wasn’t! For one year only the opening stages took place near to where I live in South Yorkshire, but more of that later.

The event is a world famous cycling race. It takes place every year, in a series of stages which are mainly in France, but it does occasionally pass through other countries. I think it started around 1903 and has taken place each year since then – apart from during the two world wars when obviously it was suspended. The cyclists are professional riders, and the tour is gruelling. The route changes each year, but always includes both hilly and mountain stages, fast flat sections and covers a huge distance of some three and a half thousand kilometres over about 23 days. I am told there are about 20 teams or so each year, each with nine riders. To be honest, I get very confused about how it is all timed and organised, but I do know that for each stage, the rider who has completed it in the fastest time gets to wear a yellow jersey for the next stage of the tour.

The race has fallen foul of cheating over the years, famously Lance Armstrong who won it some seven times I think was later banned for drug taking. However, more recently cycling has cleaned up its act and gained in popularity. In 2014, a decision was made to have the Grand Depart – the start of the Tour de France in South Yorkshire. This part of England where I live has fantastic scenery and very, very steep hills that were deemed suitably challenging of the super-fit and competitive cyclists. Although I’ve never previously been interested in cycling, some of my friends are, and with such a world famous event happening on my doorstep I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out.

On the day of the race itself, lots of roads were closed. I met up with some friends and we caught a tram as far out of the city as we could, and then walked the final stages to a good viewing point along the route. I had no idea what to expect but it was amazing! The weather was gorgeous, and Yorkshire and Sheffield folk had turned out in droves. I think about 2.5 million of us lined the route over the weekend it was passing through. I climbed up a bank and hung onto a tree to get a good vantage point as the cyclists raced through in the peloton (a new word for me that I learned whilst spectating). To be completely honest, the actual cyclists passed by in an instant, what made the event fun to watch was the build-up and the atmosphere. The race was led by a convoy of floats and support vehicles. There was lots of good natured banter and sharing of food and snacks as the crowds waited for the bikes to come, and plenty of people in hilarious fancy dresses on French or cycling themes. Bunting was hanging everywhere, and brightly painted yellow bikes were scattered along the route. The weather showed off our Yorkshire hills and scenery at its very best, it was awesome!

I was really proud to be one of the supporters on what was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see The Tour de France passing through practically on my doorstep (I live in Sheffield). The race director for the event later described Yorkshire's Grand Depart as the "grandest" in the 111-year history of the race, it was wonderful to be part of that… it hasn’t made me want to take up cycling, though – those hills are ferocious!