The Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2014 was memorable for lots of reasons; we had royalty, an early break from Jens Voigt, drama in Harrogate, great climbs up the likes of the Buttertubs and Holme Moss, and two dominant wins from the king of the sprinting beasts, Marcel Kittel.
And then there were the crowds.
In their hundreds of thousands the fans filled the squares and the green spaces of Leeds, Harrogate and Sheffield, they lined the streets through Skipton, Keighley and Howarth, and they turned great expanses of Yorkshire into giant campsites, to gather on the climbs and form a noisy guard of honour.
On stage 3 from Cambridge, through Essex and into London, the story was the same; no climbs, perhaps, but plenty of people.
There was some great bike racing on show, but as far as the mainmedia was concerned the crowds were the star. As Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme described it, getting swept along with the atmosphere, “when you said you would deliver the grandest Grand Depart it was the truth, you have raised the bar for all future hosts of the Tour de France.”
It’s hard to think of another sporting event where the spectators become such an integral part of proceedings.
On a climb like the Buttertubs or (can we really compare them?) Alpe d’Huez, the crowds of people create the arena in which the action plays out. The fans physically create the space in which the excitement is happening, and get close enough to touch the riders, hear them breathe with effort, or even run alongside them in all manner of outfits (some more dignified than others). In this way, the sport of cycling is surely unique.
However, much as the riders appreciate the attention, the atmosphere, and the extra kick of adrenaline that all this provides (and they do), there were those during this weekend who took to social media to remind fans to keep safety in mind; Fabian Cancellara and Andre Greipel to name but two.
Occasionally, the point needs making that if a bunch of cyclists are careering past at 40 or 50 kph, it wouldn’t take much of a misjudgement on either part to cause some serious damage.
There have been incidents involving unruly fans over the years, of course; Eddy Merckx on the receiving end of a punch to the stomach in the 1975 Tour de France; Mark Cavendish getting doused in a particularly unpleasant liquid during stage 11 of the 2013 event; or more recently, during the 2014 Giro d’Italia, Francesco Bongiorno having his chances ruined on the climb of Monte Zoncolan as an over eager fan attempted to give him a helping hand, and succeeded only in shoving him off his stride (and almost his bike) at the crucial moment.
But negative incidents are rare.
Whatever thrills and spills await through the rest of this year’s Tour de France - over the cobbles, through the Vosges, and into the Alpes and the Pyrenees - some of the abiding memories of the race will surely be of Yorkshire, and London, and the hundreds and thousands of British cycling fans lining the route, behaving themselves, and lapping up their moment in the sun.