Jan Hunter speaks to Mr Yorkshire, Sir Gary Verity, in the very Yorkshire setting of a tent at an agricultural show

THERE’S a long queue winding out of the busy dining marquee at Stokesley show of people waiting to be served. Sir Gary Verity, president of the show society, is at the heart of the hubbub, grabbing a quick lunch on the top table.

He is the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, and is best known in the highest circles on both sides of the channel as the man who brought the Tour de France to Yorkshire – in Britain, he was knighted for his services to tourism, and in France he was made a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit.

But there’s more to him than just cycling. In May, he became a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, and in this role on the day after the show, he took part in RAF Linton on Ouse Freedom of the City of York and Remembrance Service in York Minster. This was followed by a TV interview and his day concluded with him speaking at an evening function in Bedale for the Dales Centre Charity, which provides lunches and a place to be for people who feel isolated or lonely.

Then it was off Innsbruck for two days for the cycling Road World Championships, organised by the sport’s world governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale – next September, men and women will race together for the first time in the UCI’s 2019 Road World Championships which, of course, will be held in Yorkshire.

So, with his half-finished fruit salad beside him on the white linen tablecloth of the top table, and a cup of coffee at his elbow, he kindly finds a few minutes for a chat.

Born, bred and educated in Leeds, he fell in love with what he calls “the wider Yorkshire” – the glorious Dales and the magnificent coastline where he and his family spent their holidays. His love of animals was inspired by the James Herriot books, and 25 years ago he bought a sheep farm in Coverdale.

He shared his time between his rural farm and his career in London with the Royal Insurance financial services, opening the company’s Hong Kong office, and travelling around south-east Asia as its trouble-shooter.

However, while back home showing his sheep at Leyburn Show, he met Helen, the show secretary, and they married in 2002. Their daughter Lily was born 10 months later, but after less than two years of marriage, Helen was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only 18 months to live.

“I found the right medical support for her,” says Gary, “and she lived for nearly six more years.”

During this time, he was head-hunted for a job that would bring him closer to home on a full time basis. “I was offered the option to base myself in Yorkshire, with a 50 per cent cut in a pay. Perhaps my work-life balance would be better…” he says, with a wry smile.

The new role was with the Yorkshire Tourist Board, which was the previous incarnation of Welcome to Yorkshire, and he agreed a three year contract. Two years later he was the chief executive, and he had the brilliant idea of bringing the Tour de France to his beloved Yorkshire. All he needed to do was persuade the French just how brilliant the idea was.

“I wanted them to give us the honour of hosting their longest and their most famous event which is the third largest annual event on the planet,” he says, a big yellow Y for Yorkshire badge pinned to the lapel of his tweed countryman’s jacket. “So I talked to the organisers.

“They had never even heard of Yorkshire, so I brought them over here. Everything went well. It was a fantastic visit. I showed them Yorkshire scenery and the cities where the event would start and finish, and they loved the place. When they left it wasn’t an if, it was a definite, when, and we chose 2014.”

He is proud of his achievement but also slightly embarrassed by all the attention it has brought.

“It wasn’t just a cycling event,” he says. “It was much more than that and I am so proud of what the Tour de Yorkshire has created. Organisations and communities come together to prepare for it, and it has had a real economic impact for businesses.

“Yorkshire is on the world map. People know about it, and it is an event of huge pride for the people who live in the county.

“My prediction is that when the Tour de France comes back to Yorkshire it will be even bigger. We are talking about the right date – it will return.”

The Tour has left many wide-reaching legacies. For instance, Gary helped set up not-for-profit Bike Libraries throughout Yorkshire, where children could donate their bikes which they had outgrown for others who couldn’t afford to buy a bike of their own. There are already 55 bike libraries across Yorkshire, and last year 57,000 children had the opportunity to ride a bike through the scheme, which has been assisted by Yorkshire Bank.

The next cycling instalment for Yorkshire is next September’s Road World Championships,. History will be made with the first ever team time trial mixed relay.

In the road races, national teams will come together in a peloton and compete against each other. There will be individual time trials where cyclists ride alone against the clock, and for the first time a UCI-sanctioned international para-cycling road race event will take place alongside the championships.

“This is a really big event for Yorkshire,” he says. “All roads will lead to Harrogate, which is the finishing line, from different starting points in the county. The para-cycling event on the first day will be the biggest one-day event in the history of sport, and the races will be qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Paralymic Games.”

Nobody has put Yorkshire more centrally on the world map than Gary, and the whole world now wants a piece of him – well, the judges at Stokesley show are getting anxious as the coffee cups have been tidied away and he’s needed to present the best-in-show prizes. There’s time for one last question: what makes you happy?

“Two things,” he says. “Getting out on my bike with a group of friends. There is never an easy ride in Yorkshire – it’s either the topography or the weather or both.

“And my farm in Coverdale. My holiday is my two weeks annual leave at lambing time in March. Looking after my sheep does make me happy.”

Although he’s received international recognition for the work he does, and he travels the world as a representative of this beautiful county, his heart remains in the Dales – a true Yorkshireman.