AS THE region prepares for the arrival of the Tour de France, we look in the Echo archives at the Tour of Britain Milk Race, which ran from 1958 for 35 years.
Sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board (MMB) the first two races were open to semi-professionals, but from 1960 until 1984 it was open only to amateurs.
From 1985 until 1993 it was open to both and after 1993, the Milk Race ended when the MMB was scrapped.
Since 2005, the ex-Milk Race has been commonly known as the Tour of Britain.
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