The Tour de France is coming to the Yorkshire Dales later this year, and Brian's recent work seeks to capture the excitement of the event.
The Grand Depart is on July 5th, starting out from Leeds with the riders making their way to Harrogate via the spectacular scenery of the Yorkshire Dales.
They will leave Leeds heading north to Harewood before turning west
through Otley, Ilkley and Skipton then north into Wharfedale, the first
of the day's main valleys. Passing by the tourist hot-spots of
Grassington, Kettlewell and Buckden the cyclists will encounter a long
steep climb up to Thoralby and then enter Wensleydale.
From Aysgarth they will make their way west to Hawes at the top of the
dale and get their first sight of the Buttertubs Pass over which they
must summit before dropping down into the northernmost and
narrowest valley of Swaledale with twisting roads and sharp bends. But
it's an incredibly picturesque route and sure to be lined with crowds the
whole way down to the market town of Reeth.
From there it's south through Leyburn, Middleham and Masham to Ripon
where they will skirt the town then onto the final straight to the big
crowds and the finishing line in Harrogate. Quite a testing first day!
More about the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2014 can be found
here.
All images © Brian Alderman.
