THE man who brought the Tour de France to Yorkshire has been honoured for the achievement with the highest accolade from cycling in the county.

Gary Verity (pictured), chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, was presented with the C.A Rhodes Memorial award – an annual prize regarded as the most prestigious award that Yorkshire Cycling can bestow.

When accepting the award, Mr Verity told of the problems faced in getting Le Tour officials interested in Yorkshire.

He said many cities around Europe were interested in the Grand Depart and that the competing bid from Edinburgh was even supported by the government and British Cycling.

He also talked of the legacy of the event, including the three-day professional road race Tour de Yorkshire that will be held in May, and the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries which aim to give every child in the county access to a bike.

C.A Rhodes trustee Mel Gibson said the event had lifted the profile of cycling to new levels .