THE Tour de France has become the latest global sporting event to feature work by Stage One as the company starts work on its Commonwealth Games project.

The Tockwith-based creative construction and manufacturing company completed a number of projects for the Grand Depart, the first two stages of which were hosted in Yorkshire this weekend.

As well as making the stage and the set for the Tour de France Team Presentation in the Leeds Arena, the company made the publicity trucks for Yorkshire tea, which rode in the 'Caravane' ahead of the peloton.

Tim Leigh, sales and marketing director at Stage One said:" The team presentation is normally a low key affair on the Tour, but Gary Verity had promised to make it the biggest and best ever seen.

"We had to create something that would fill the Leeds Arena, which would be eye catching but would also allow the professional riders to ride on it.

"It was critical it was safe enough for them to ride on without falling off, so we had our own staff riding on it on their bikes to make sure it worked.

"We worked with the set designer to create a ride inspired theme, with graffiti mimicking the chalking on the roads of the route. We had to create a set the would work in a live environment setting but also look great on television in front of an international audience .

"We are very proud to have worked on something so exciting and so high profile on a global stage."

Stage One, which was the company behind the creation of the cauldron at the 2012 London Olympic Games, is also working on projects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games, due to be staged in Glasgow later this month.

Mr Leigh said: "We can't say too much about that as we don't want to give the game away but we are creating scene elements that will really reinforce the history, tradition and fun that is being presented in Glasgow.

"It's another demonstration of our commitment to working on major, global sporting events."