The 2014 Tour de France opens on Sunday in England, with the first stage beginning in Leeds and ending in Harrogate. The first three stages of the 21-stage, 23-day premiere event in cycling are all in England, the first time the Tour de France has had more than two stages in the United Kingdom.
Tour de France 2014 route and map: Leeds to Harrogate in Stage 1
Doug Pensinger
The “Grand Start,” as the first three stages through England are referred, covers an area of roughly 15,000 square kilometers and will see stops in Leeds, Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge and London.
Stage 1, from Leeds to Harrogate, runs 190.5 klilometers, or roughly 118 miles, and is considered a relative flat stage of the three-week event. It starts at 6 a.m. ET, with coverage on NBC Sports Network and NBC on Sunday. Harrogate is no stranger to cycling, a common stage city of the Tour of Britain.
Mark Cavendish, with 25 stage wins to his credit, is called the favorite to wear the yellow jersey after Stage 1 by The Telegraph, which also provided this video flyover of the 190.5 kilometers from Leeds to Harrogate:
Stage 1 map per Tour de France
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