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Abstract
In the summer of 2014, there was no way of getting away from it: Le Tour de France was coming to Yorkshire. The message from tourism was that this was great for Yorkshire because businesses would be making money; politicians were also telling local people to feel happy that they had won the right to host Le Tour. In this paper, I will reflect on what happened when Le Tour came to Yorkshire through an analysis of newspaper reports, photographs taken by myself two years on from the two days Le Tour arrived in Yorkshire, and an auto-ethnographic account of what it was like to be there. I will argue that Le Tour allowed local communities to embrace a cosmopolitan European identity alongside their existing northern English or Yorkshire identities, and that the race itself allowed spectators to be proud about the northern English landscape through which the cyclists battled.
Disclosure statement
There is no potential conflict of interest, and no source of funding.
Notes
1. Craven Herald. Citation2013. ‘Tour de France Gives Craven Economy a Boost’, Craven Herald. January 24. Accessed 10 October 2018. http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/10183656.Tour_de_France_gives_Craven_economy_a_boost/.
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. Moore, Lindsey. 2014. ‘Passengers Hand over Petition Protesting at Reduced Bus Service’, Craven Herald. June 2. Accessed 10 October 2018, http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/11251311.Passengers_hand_over_petition_protesting_at_reduced_bus_service/.
5. Moore, L. 2015. ‘Craven Reap the Benefit of Last Year’s Grand Depart’, Craven Herald. July 16. Accessed 10 October 2018. http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/13423076.Craven_reaps_the_benefits_of_last_year_s_Grand_Depart/.
6. ibid.
7. ibid.