The eyes of the cycling world will turn to the White Rose County for the Tour de France Grand Départ on Saturday July 5 and RCUK will be marking the occasion at the Yorkshire Bicycle Show.
On Friday July 4, the day the show opens, we will be hosting ‘An evening with RCUK’ – a Q&A session with some industry insiders to discuss all things Tour de France.
Among the speakers, Sam Hodgson of The Lift Agency will have an even keener interest in how the Tour’s opening stage proceeds – starting in his home city, finishing in the town in which he works and with a client starting among the favourites for the stage.
Mark Cavendish launched his new brand – CVNDSH – nearly 12 months ago to the day.
And Hodgson, along with colleague Tom Cutting, were the men behind the brand – the Manx Missile’s brief having happily, and coincidentally, found its way to the desk of two cycling fans working in his mother’s home town.
So how exactly do you put together a project for one of the most iconic British sportsmen of his era.
Hodgson admits: “Working for someone who you look up to is always a challenge. As a commercial project, you’re looking to create something that works in the marketplace but also ticks the boxes with the individual.
“When it’s in an area you understand, that also proves a bit of a hurdle as there are certain stereotypes in design for cycling that are pretty hard to break down; gradient fades, italic typefaces – a big hate! – and other such anomalies are almost expected.
“We just wanted to do something that went against this – something pure and minimal – that still felt fast.”
The brief of green and fast led to the logo which now adorns the Manxman’s clothing range, produced with Specialized, among other things.
The green slash, cutting through the vowel-less surname of arguably the best sprinter of his generation is to symbolise Cavendish peeling out from his sprint train and flying to victory.
And Hodgson admits, as a cycling fan, he placed extra pressures on the project from a personal point of view.
“It was an extremely significant job even looking at it from a purely commercial standing,” he explains. “Certainly something that would be in the limelight as much as any other project we’ve worked on.
“As a cyclist, there are obviously more pressures, but mainly the ones I put on myself, knowing that it’s something I’ll see on products, websites and in print that I choose to look at.”
Hodgson adds: “I was super nervous about presenting to him the first time round but he’s a good client to work with.
“He’s honest with his feedback which has been the most important part of the working relationship, making sure that everything is as he envisaged while we build the brand.”
Twelve months on, and Cavendish and the Tour de France are the talk of Harrogate, with a maiden yellow jersey for the 29-year-old the potential prize on offer on Parliament Street come Saturday July 5.
And Hodgson is relishing the prospect of one of the world’s biggest sporting events taking over the sleepy spa town in which he works.
“It’s been pretty insane seeing the ramp in cycling exposure in the area, and I’m obviously super-excited about the chaos of the Tour descending on some of my riding routes,” he says.
“From a business perspective it’s made me very busy, so the ‘non-business me’ is looking forward to the weekend very much!”
The Yorkshire Bicycle Show takes place from Friday July 4 to Sunday July 6. For more information or to purchase tickets visit http://yorkshirebicycleshow.co.uk/
