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Cycling books were “flying off shelves” during the Tour de France in Yorkshire, described at the “grandest” Grand Départ in the race’s 111-year history.
Millions of people were estimated to have flocked into Yorkshire for the start of the Tour de France last weekend (5th July), described by race director Christian Prudhomme as the “grandest” in its history, and bookshops reaped the benefit, despite road closures and the distraction of the race.
The Grove Bookshop in Ilkely hosted author Tim Moore, who signed copies of his book Gironimo! (Yellow Jersey) for customers and tourists. “Trade was quiet on the main day the race passed through Ilkley, on Saturday, but cycling books were flying off the shelves on Sunday,” said assistant manager Mike Sansbury. “The ITV coverage mentioned Ilkley Literature Festival, which was great for us as that is something we are involved in. We have mostly been selling cycling books, they are more or less the only books we have sold.”
Meanwhile, Yvonne Houchen, supervisor of the White Rose Book Café in Thirsk, said that takings had shot up at the weekend. “Looking at the figures, we have had a very good weekend,” she said. “We had a lot of visitors and we made our café and bookshop ‘cycling friendly’ and allowed people to bring their bikes in, which went down well. We have had two different window displays dedicated to cycling.”
Houchen said the shop had sold a lot of copies of memoirs by Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins, along with The Bluffer’s Guide to Cycling (Rob Ainsley), adding that there had been a knock-on effect on map sales, too.
Booksellers from Jaffé & Neale Bookshop & Café travelled to Skipton, north Yorkshire, to sell books at the Rapha Tempest Cycling Festival over the weekend.