A GIANT cyclist brought to life by local schoolchildren in Baildon has won the 2019 UCI Road World Championships Land Art Competition.

The 1,600m2 grass painting was created on the grounds of Hollins Hall Hotel & Country Club to celebrate the Women’s Elite Road Race passing through on the penultimate day of the Championships on Saturday, September 28.

The design featured ‘Baildon’ written in massive letters along with a cyclist drawn using a single continuous line. If that wasn’t enough, the wheels of the cyclist’s bike featured two specially produced parachutes in UCI colours which were turned by schoolchildren as the real-life riders passed by.

The project was led by Baildon Town Council along with artists Tim Curtis and Luke Owens who brought the whole community together to get involved. Saltaire Gym Club, Hollins Hall Hotel & Country Club, Baildon Ignition Group, Baildon Belles Women’s Institute, Bradford Council, and no-less than five local schools joined forces to make it such a success.

Third place in the prestigious competition also went to a piece created in the Bradford district – in Shipley.

The ‘Fish on a bicycle’ piece was created on Bradford Council land off Coach Road in Shipley and was made of waste commonly pulled from the nearby River Aire.

Local artists Sand in Your Eye created the outline and the Council’s drainage and recycling teams worked with the Environment Agency and The Aire Rivers Trust to create a piece of artwork with local recycling, litter-picking and plastic free groups in Saltaire combining art, cycling, climate action and a plastic-free environment.

The designs were among many that were entered into the competition and picked up by the TV cameras over the nine days of the Championships. The footage was beamed to an estimated audience of 250 million people around the globe.

Last month, 10 of the best designs were shortlisted by Welcome to Yorkshire and Yorkshire 2019 and put to a public vote with almost 5,000 people having their say.

Yesterday morning, representatives from Baildon were invited to Welcome to Yorkshire’s headquarters in Leeds to receive their prize – a signed and framed world champion’s jersey presented by Welcome to Yorkshire Commercial Director Peter Dodd and Yorkshire 2019 Head of Communications Charlie Dewhirst. Meanwhile, Shipley received a special commemorative trophy for its eye-catching installation.

Councillor Gill Dixon, of Baildon Town Council, said: “I want to thank everyone in Baildon for their support, and to everyone who voted for us. It was magnificent how everyone in the community got behind this land art and supported it."

Saira Ali, who co-ordinates land art and route dressing for Bradford Council, said: “We supported the production several pieces of land art in the Bradford district and are delighted that two of them came out in the top three.”

Welcome to Yorkshire Commercial Director Peter Dodd said: “There were so many fantastic entries but Baildon is a deserved winner. As well as the design, what really impressed me was the way it brought so many different people from the local community together, and that’s one of the key things we want events like the Championships and Tour de Yorkshire to achieve.

“Tim and Luke deserve special praise for pulling this project together, and I’d like to offer a huge congratulations to everyone else who worked so hard on it.

“Thorne and Shipley were also worthy runners up, and I’d like to thank everyone who went the extra mile during the Championships to showcase our brilliant county.”

Yorkshire 2019 Chief Executive Andy Hindley said: “It’s a pleasure to be able to give something back to the people of Yorkshire who helped make the Championships such a colourful and vibrant event, and huge congratulations to all those entries who were shortlisted.

“Baildon really did itself proud and Thorne and Shipley’s entries were also spectacular with a great environmental message. We’ve proved once again that nowhere quite does land art like we do here in Yorkshire and I’d like to thank everyone who got involved.”