Town turn out for Tour of Britain's fourth stage

Hundreds of spectators lined the streets as the men’s Tour of Britain’s fourth stage began in Helmsley on Saturday morning. The North Yorkshire town decorated in red, white and blue welcomed the peloton as it passed Market Place at 11:00 BST on a 103-mile (166 km) route to Leyburn. The race included 8,800ft (2,699m) of climbing and was billed by British Cycling as a “toughest and most decisive” test, serving as the penultimate stage. After Boroughbridge and Ripon, riders entered the Yorkshire Dales, with a steep climb over Greenhow Bank toward Grassington, Wensleydale and Aysgarth Falls, finishing around 15:00 in Leyburn. Residents and visitors, including local business owners and cyclists, praised the atmosphere and the national exposure for small towns as the Tour runs from Lincoln on Sept. 2 to a finish in Scotland on Sunday.