Gallery: Tour de France warm-up rides in Yorkshire

Public excitement surrounding the Tour de France is growing ahead of its start on July 5 in Leeds, Yorkshire. That momentum is pushed along by the event's nearly 200 professional cyclists, who have taken to the streets for pre-race training rides.

Cycling is one of those few sports where the public has almost direct access to the athletes, and as they emerged from the race hotel, fans were there to get photos taken with their favorite riders, autographs and to watch the team mechanics set up the bikes for the morning training sessions.

Click here to view the gallery of photos from the team training rides during the days leading into the Tour de France start in Leeds.

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