Helmsley celebrated Tour of Britain with a packed day

“Helmsley did us proud once again” was the overriding message as the town celebrated the visit of the Tour of Britain with a packed schedule of events. (Image: George Jabbour)

The market was buzzing with people and families coming from near and far to watch the prestigious cycle race, mark the launch of the Heart of Helmsley Project and take part in many activities.

 Earlier this year, it was announced that the start of the fourth day of the 2026 Tour of Britain would be in Helmsley, which successfully hosted the finish of this bike competition four years ago.

 The occasion was also an opportunity to launch the Heart of Helmsley Project, an initiative with significant investment to deliver improvements to enhance the accessibility of the town’s facilities and make it a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

“Helmsley did us proud once again” was the overriding message as the town celebrated the visit of the Tour of Britain with a packed schedule of events. (Image: George Jabbour)

 Helmsley’s North Yorkshire Councillor, George Jabbour, said residents and visitors had a fabulous experience.  

“From watching the cyclists as they left Helmsley and listening to live music and the Bandamonium brassbands, to meeting local organisations and touring the town to view the decoration of the shops and streets, everyone had a brilliant time.

“Helmsley did us proud once again” was the overriding message as the town celebrated the visit of the Tour of Britain with a packed schedule of events. (Image: George Jabbour)

“It was a real delight to work with local volunteers, businesses and residents to decorate our beautiful town ahead of Saturday’s spectacular event.  Helmsley was absolutely stunning.  The enthusiasm and participation that we have seen from everyone demonstrated how excited the community was.  After the phenomenal success that Helmsley enjoyed at the 2022 Tour of Britain, a lot of effort had gone into ensuring that this prestigious cycling race would return.  Now that it has, Helmsley did us proud once again.”

 Heart of Helmsley Project Representative, Carolyn Frank, said: “We enjoyed welcoming the international cycling race again to Helmsley, and hope that people who came for the first time return to visit again.  For our community, this was a good opportunity to come together with voluntary organisations, businesses and residents all contributing and taking part together.  Helmsley was again simply the best market town in Britain, not just on Saturday and showed our famous community spirit.”