With a year to go before the Tour de France rushes through Craven, Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith looks at the succesful bid and what the event will mean for the area

We are now just a year away from one of the world’s greatest sporting events taking place on our doorstep. The 100th Tour de France is getting under way and the 101st will have its Grand Depart in Yorkshire.

I am delighted to have been part of bringing the Tour de France to Yorkshire. Last summer, when the negotiations were going on behind the scenes, I met with the French team at St Pancras to show them the political support for Yorkshire’s bid. I led the efforts to secure up to £10m of Government funding for the Tour and I chair the All Party Parliamentary Group focused on the event at Westminster.

In addition, over the last few weeks I have been working with local councils and the Government to get the governance structure and costs of hosting the event confirmed.

Craven will see race action both on day one and day two of the Grand Depart – one of very few areas to do so. On day one it will be Skipton and Upper Wharfedale while on day two it is Bolton Abbey. That adds up to around ten per cent of the two stages of the Grand Depart’s 245 miles being in Craven.

In June I travelled the route through Craven to talk to residents and businesses about the opportunities for our communities from having Le Tour passing through our area. They are huge and it is vital we capitalise on them.

Around five hours’ worth of vehicles will travel the route of the Race in advance of the riders and then after them. Over 121 different television channels around the world will be broadcasting live shots of our stunning landscape from the ground and from the air from several helicopters.

Two thousand journalists cover the event and tens of thousands will be at the roadside. On average, someone coming to watch Le Tour spends six hours at the roadside. That is a brilliant opportunity for businesses, landowners and communities to showcase what they have to offer to the world. I know that many hotels, bed and breakfasts, pubs, restaurants, shops and parish councils are already thinking about how they can capitalise over the weekend itself, and I would urge everyone to think about those opportunities.

But I would also encourage Craven to think about how else we can benefit. Before and after the event there will be cyclists who want to do their own mini-Tour of the Dales and there will be tourists inspired by the scenery they see to visit the towns and villages along the route.

There are huge opportunities for the UK and for Yorkshire but there are more opportunities for every town, village and hamlet on the route. It is important each area does all they can to bring the benefits to their area. From car parking to camping, merchandise to meals, there will be huge demand that it is important we are ready to capitalise on that in as many places as possible to boost Craven’s economy.

Now we are less than 12 months away, my message to everyone involved is to do everything possible to make sure you are not just a spectator to the opportunities of the Tour de France and I will be doing all I can to support those efforts.