Tour de France in Yorkshire route announced

The second stage of the Tour de France will end in Sheffield

The route has been announced for the 2014 Tour de France, which will start in Yorkshire.

The roads of Yorkshire will host the first stage of the 101st tour, which starts in Leeds and finishes in Harrogate on 5 July.

It will be the first of two stages in Yorkshire before the riders race from Cambridge to London prior to the French stages.

The race was last in the UK in 2007 when it started in London.

The second, slightly longer stage will leave from York and finish in Sheffield.

Permanently mark

The county beat off rival bids from Florence and Edinburgh to host the two stages of the race next July.

Meanwhile, new road signs to permanently mark the route of the Tour de France in North Yorkshire have been unveiled.

Tourist organisation Welcome to Yorkshire said 50 signs would be installed along stage one of the route by North Yorkshire County Council.

Welcome to Yorkshire said the signs would allow people to follow the stage one route for "years to come".

The announcement of the signs along the stage one route in North Yorkshire came as the full itinerary of the three English stages of the race were released.

Stage one of the Tour de France

The race is to start on the Headrow in Leeds and head out of the city north towards Harewood. It is also to visit Ilkley, Otley, Ripon, Skipton and Hawes before finishing after 118 miles (190km) in Harrogate.

See map

Stage two of the Tour de France

The race is to start in York and go through Knaresborough, Keighley, over Holme Moss into the Peak District National Park before finishing after 124 miles (200km) at Sheffield Arena.

See map