Tour de France 2014: Le Grand Depart, Stage 1

Location

Country: France
City: Paris
Place: British Embassy

The three posters that form Tour de France 2014: Le Grand Depart were designed by British fashion designer and cycling enthusiast Sir Paul Smith, as part of the cultural celebrations of the Tour de France coming to the UK in 2014. The biggest cycle race in the world, this was only the fourth Tour to contain stages in the United Kingdom, after 1974, 1994 and 2007. The race’s early stages (known as the Grand Depart) were held in Yorkshire. The first poster, in yellow and red, reflects the first stage where athletes cycled 190 km from Leeds to Harrogate through the Yorkshire Dales. The second poster, in green, marks the second stage where they cycled over the Peak District from York to Sheffield. The third poster, in bright blue, celebrates the third stage from Cambridge to London, where the riders finished on the Mall. The Tour then continued in France.

As well as being presented to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, posters were also given to local authorities where the race passed through. In keeping with the Tour being one of the greatest free sporting events in the world, the posters were also made available for free download online.

Sir Paul Smith said of the commission:

The Tour de France doesn’t come to the UK too often so when I was asked by the Secretary of State for Culture to contribute to the build-up to this great sporting spectacle I was delighted.

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

screenprint

Artist

Paul Smith (1946 - )

Title

Tour de France 2014: Le Grand Depart, Stage 1

Edition

7/35

Date

2014

Medium

Screenprint (poster)

Dimensions

height: 96.00 cm, width: 67.80 cm

Acquisition

Presented by the artist, July 2014

Inscription

bl: 7/35 ; br: Paul Smith

GAC number

18600