INEVITABLY, the cyclists arrived first. Resplendent in their colourful Lycra suits and eye-catching helmets they rode into Whitby hours before the Tour de Yorkshire peloton was due.

Not that they minded. The sun was shining and the early arrival meant there was plenty of time to grab a cool pint from The Dolphin Hotel and settle themselves down on the seats outside, just before the swing bridge where the peloton will peel right towards Whitby Abbey.

A few years away a gaggle of young mums waited patiently, their off-spring bribed to keep quiet with ice-creams and sweets.

Just around the corner, a big screen mounted opposite the station is showing footage of the pelton as it heads through Hackness.

With an hour still to go, the atmosphere is building in Whitby.

"I know it's not the Tour de France, but it's still going to be a spectacle," says one old man who came down early to secure himself a prime vantage point.

There are about 1,000 spectators awaiting the peloton, plus hundreds of sea gulls wheeling in the skies overhead hoping to catch a stray chip or a discarded ice-cream cone.

Just outside the town, in picturesque Grosmont, home to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, locals have been getting into the spirit of the event.

Some of the old bikes, painted yellow for last year's Tour de France, have been dusted down, brought out of retirement and given pride of place outside shops and homes.

One sign says 'Dig In Lads' - a reflection of the exhaustion many of the elite riders will be feeling when they reach Grosmont.