A HUGE number of spectators came to the town centre to cheer on the start of the men’s Tour de Yorkshire race this afternoon.
The streets surrounding the Town Hall, where the 149km race departed from, were filled with people from Barnsley and beyond who had come along to cheer on the cyclists.
Their route takes them through Penistone, Oxspring, Thurgoland, Worsbrough, up the challenging Cote de Blacker Hill, Hoyland, Wentworth and Swinton before heading along to finish at Ilkley’s Cote de Cow and Calf.
Mayor of Barnsley Coun Jeff Ennis opened the event and put council environmental health officer Stephen Butler in the spotlight.
Stephen waved the flag to start both the men’s and women’s races and was chosen for the honour after completing the 312km Mallorca 312 cycle race last weekend for charity Kirkwood Hospice.
