Children showed off their cycling skills to Sport and Tourism Minister Helen Grant when she visited their school.

The minister was in Leeds to see how the city was preparing for the start of this year’s Tour de France.

And she made time for a trip to Benton Park School in Rawdon, watching as pupils took part in a session on their bikes as part of Go-Ride, British Cycling’s development programme for young people.

Benton Park has bike lessons as part of its PE programme and also runs a weekly bike club.

It also has one of the highest rates of pupils riding to school in the city, with just seven out of more than 250 pupils in Year 7 arriving by car.

The Minister said: “It was great to be in Yorkshire to get an update on how plans are progressing for the Grand Depart.

“It’s going to be a fantastic event that will showcase Yorkshire to the world, boosting local tourism and encouraging more people to get on their bikes and take up the sport.

“The children at Benton Park were certainly enjoying their Go Ride session with British Cycling and that is something that is being replicated at schools right across the country, as excitement builds ahead of Le Tour.”

Benton Park head of design and technology Jonathan Farnaby added: “The cycling programme here has made a real impact since we decided to try and make it part of the mainsteam curriculum a couple of years ago and we are grateful to our partners for all their support.

“The pupils really took to it across all types of cycling, and the success of British cyclists at London 2012 and Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France has helped it to become even more fashionable with the pupils.

“They are hugely excited at the chance to see their cycling heroes in action in Leeds and we can’t wait for July to get here.”