The Sheffield-based printing company has produced 100 pop-up banners promoting Yorkshire’s involvement in the next Tour – ‘The Grand Départ’ takes place on 5-6 July 2014 when stages one and two of the tour will follow routes that visit Leeds, Skipton, Harrogate, York and Ripon, finishing in Sheffield.
The banners have been rolled out to tourist information centres across the county, timed to capitalise on the high level of awareness of the event following Chris Froome’s victory in the 2013 outing.
They were produced on Evolution’s HP Designjet printer on Innotech banner material.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme made a flying visit to the UK to launch the campaign with Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire.
Verity said: “Working with Evolution Print and our tourist information centre partners, we can help ensure that visitors right across Yorkshire will be aware of this massive event happening right here next year.”
Evolution director Julie Rice described the project as “incredibly exciting”.
“As we get closer, more and more people are started to realise how big this will be for Yorkshire and to play a part in its promotion is fantastic for us all at Evolution.”
The 2014 Tour will mark the first time the event has visited the north of England. Millions of fans are expected at the roadside, with more than three billion people watching the tour on television worldwide.
Evolution director Graham Congreve added: “Stage two finishes about 300 yards from our factory, it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. We’ve all got a passion for cycling here – out of 35 staff at least 20 have bikes and are in the cycle to work scheme.”
Stage three of the 2014 Tour will also be in the UK, with the peloton travelling from Cambridge to London.
Picture shows, left to right: Verity, Congreve, Rice and Prudhomme.