The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wave off the Tour’s riders and then it’s down to the UK king of sprints to finally claim yellow.

Mark Cavendish will never get a better chance to lead the race once the royals do their bit in Leeds.

The Manx missile has 25 Tour stage wins to his name, and one more gets him the coveted jersey.

On one's bike: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, seen here with Roy Hodgson, are going to Leeds for Tour start

The stage is set up for a sprint finish as it weaves an anti-clockwise loop around the dales and sights of Yorkshire, as it was in Corsica last year.

The Tour’s organisers have eschewed the Prologue that got things underway last time it visited here in 2007 because the drama of a mass finish has more going for it than riders passing one-by-one.

St Paul's and a pushbike: Tour riders cycle past in 2007

However, there are two category three and a category four climb to negotiate including Buttertubs pass at just over halfway round the 190k route expected to arrive in Harrogate sometime around 4.30.

And of course in the official guide, the climb has been splendidly renamed Cote de Buttertubs.

German Marcel Kittel will have something to say about Cavendish’s push to breast the line in the town where his mother Adele was born.