‘Why we want to get the Tour of Britain back here’

Longridge was one of the towns stage two of the tour passed through and Coun Rainford says it can be “a catalyst for the town to become a cycling hub”.

Former Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins, a Leyland resident, flew down Berry Lane to raptuous applause from thousands of cycling fans on Monday and Coun Rainford believes the town showed why it is the perfect place to host any cycling event.

She said: “All I can say is wow when I look back at how the people of the town welcomed the tour to Longridge. I was in awe of how much effort and work people had put in to make the town look as good as it did for the race. There was yellow bikes, flags and decorations on almost every shop window in town and we’ve had some really good feedback from the organisers. We’re in the middle of a great area for cycling and we would love for the Tour of Britain to come back but also to host lots of other cycling events.

“I was lost for words watching it and we have some big plans which are currently being worked on, including bringing Sky Rides to the town.”

Ribble Valley Borough Council brought the tour to Lancashire and despite costing more than £100,000 Coun Rainford thinks it would be worth doing again.

“It gave such a huge boost to the area and brought out a real community spirit in everyone,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to Ribble Valley about how we’d like to do it again and hopefully it will happen. Longridge showed it is a fantastic place to live and work, filled with brilliant people and to put it bluntly we showed that we can party, because it really was an amazing atmosphere which is a credit to all the people who were involved, which was a lot!

“I know this can be a catalyst for the town to become a cycling hub and host many more events.”

• See Saturday’s Evening Post to find out what Ribble Valley Borough Council has to say about bringing the Tour of Britain back to Lancashire next year and what they made of the borough’s efforts.