TOUR used to mean little more to me than a weekend I wouldn’t remember with the football team.

But anyone who took the chance to witness the Tour de France in Britain last year will have been hooked by its romance.

Admittedly, at the time, it took a friend to convince me it would be worth a trip to Yorkshire to watch the procession of elite cyclists funnel through the countryside.

But as soon as we stepped out of the car near Holmfirth I caught the bug, albeit more than three hours before the peloton was due through.

We trekked a couple of miles to Holme Moss, a tiny village but the start of a climb to the highest point on stage two, with the route decked out in tricolor flags and bunting.

Swarms of intrigued fans followed us, stopping to speak to welcoming locals who were cashing in with barbecues, cake and drink sales and no shortage of good will.

The rain came and went and once the team cars arrived, blaring out music, it was a party atmosphere on the winding road to the summit.

It took, with us congregated at the steepest point, less than 10 minutes for the riders to pass through – but those 10 minutes were well worth the hours of intrigue both before and after.

Warrington Guardian: Tour de Yorkshire pictures

The Tour gets under way again on Saturday with the Grand Départ this time heading out from Utrecht, in the Netherlands.

I will be checking in for my daily dose of highlights action, not least for the incredible scenery on offer when it winds through Belgium, into France, the Pyrenees and the Alps before finishing in Paris.

Then there are the riders, incredible, finely-tuned athletes in their own right, and plenty will fancy their chances this year on both the sprint and climbing stages.

British hopeful and 2013 winner Chris Froome joins the likes of Alberto Contador, who won the Giro d’Italia last month, and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali.

There is the danger; organisers have already had to move the Col du Galibier climb due to landslides, while descents require great nerve and composure – four cyclists have died in the past including Brit Tommy Simpson on Mount Ventoux in 1967.

And then there is the passion; the history, politics, tactics, individual battles and accolades, everything about the Tour oozes passion.

So go on, tune in and get hooked.

A Tour question, then, which rider receives the polka-dot jersey?

Last week I asked who had finished as US Open runner up the most times without winning it? It was of course Phil Mickelson, with six second-place finishes.