FINAL preparations are being made across the Bradford district ahead of tomorrow’s final stage of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.

The three-day cycling event began yesterday in Bridlington, touring around East Yorkshire before finishing in Scarborough, and today will see both male and female competitors head from Tadcaster to Harrogate.

Tomorrow’s stage – the Yorkshire Terrier – is the toughest of the race, and will start in City Park at 12.10pm.

The peloton will pass through Guiseley and Burley-in-Wharfedale, before arriving in Ilkley by 12.47pm.

The riders will then head out into North Yorkshire, before arriving in Silsden at around 2pm, and hitting the first climb of the day – Cote de Silsden – soon after.

The race will pass through Keighley at 2.06pm, reaching Haworth at 2.15pm where riders will climb the cobbled Cote de Haworth on Main Street.

The third climb in half an hour will then approach at Cote de Leeming, which the riders will ascend at 2.27pm.

From there the riders will head towards Queensbury, passing through the village at 2.33pm, before hitting the gruelling Cote de Shibden Wall, a one kilometre climb at a 13.5 per cent incline.

The tour will then head into Halifax before coming back to the district at 3pm in Brighouse, 3.06pm in Cleckheaton, and heading through Birstall town centre at 3.13pm in tribute to murdered MP Jo Cox, before heading off to South Yorkshire for four more gruelling climbs and the finish in Fox Valley, Sheffield.

Some top spots from where to catch the race include the start in City Park, which Sir Gary Verity, head of Welcome to Yorkshire, said could be “the biggest event in the city’s history”, Saltaire, the cobbled climb in Haworth, and Queensbury, which has well and truly got into the cycling spirit with decorations along the route.

Leading the promotional caravan tomorrow will be Fuel for School, a project run by the Real Junk Food Project, which supplies schools in Bradford and across Yorkshire with food deliveries.

The caravan, which travels ahead of the cyclists, will hand out food and flyers to the crowds, while explaining the work Fuel for School does to ensure hunger is not a barrier for learning.

Ahead of tomorrow’s race, a children’s peloton will take place around the city from 11.15am.

Around 100 children in yellow helmets will cycle from City Park to The Broadway, before watching the professionals set off on the final stage, and returning to City Park.

The event has been organised by schools, East Bradford Cycling Club and the Sustrans charity, which aims to make cycling more accessible.

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