A PAIR of pop performers will launch the Tour de France this week with a show at the official opening ceremony.

Former Fame Academy contestant Alistair Griffin and Kimberley Walsh from Girls Aloud, recorded The Road, as the official anthem for the Grand Depart, with several of the 10,000 Tour Makers joining for part of the recording.

The single is released on Monday, and the pair will perform at the first direct arena in Leeds on Thursday, as well as at the Grand Departy in York on Friday.

Alistair said: "It’s going to be a very special weekend, and I would love for the whole of Yorkshire to hear the song being played as the world’s sporting eyes focus on the Grand Depart spectacle.”

"If the Tour Makers show as much energy and enthusiasm on the streets and the roads of Yorkshire as they did in the recording studio, then we are all going to be in very safe hands."

Tickets for the Grand Departy are still available at ticketline.co.uk, experiencetherace.com and at Visit York in Museum Street, York.