In 2013, Leeds City Council produced he winner of the Local Government Challenge, so as our ten latest contestants headed to Leeds, they were expecting something extra special for their third challenge of the series.

They weren't disappointed.  With Lana Fisher (last year's winner) away in Seattle on part of her Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship-funded learning, leader of Leeds City Council, Cllr Keith Wakefield, and chief executive Tom Riordan set the stage for the Challenge.

The challenge
This summer the largest annual sporting event in the world – the Tour de France – is coming to Yorkshire. The Grande Depart will be held in Leeds, with the world's elite cyclists setting off from Leeds Town Hall.

Alongside the media profile, the excitement and the razzamatazz of the event – already evident throughout the town – is a major opportunity to build a lasting legacy for the people of Leeds.

And this was the basis of the Challenge for our two teams.  With women's cycling in the city well below the national average, their task was to come up with 10 big ideas to encourage more women and girls to get on their bikes.

And to do that they would first have to identify the barriers, and then come up with creative solutions to overcome them.

Team captains were duly appointed – Charlotte (Sutton LBC) pedalling for LG Generation, and Si-Chun (Coventry City Council) in the saddle for Engage – and the two teams began their 24-hour marathon that would finish next day in the Leeds City Council chamber in front of a panel of expert judges.

An afternoon of frenetic activity included discussions with the Lord Mayor of Leeds, briefings from Leeds City Council Tour de France Legacy colleagues and focus groups with local primary and secondary school children which tested the contestants' facilitation skills to the full and provided a fantastic source of inspiration.

Further focus groups made up of women of all ages gave the teams plenty more material to get their teeth into. In time-honoured tradition, Engage and LG Generation worked late into the night reading, discussing, sifting, creating and composing.

Next morning, a final opportunity for both teams to sound out their ideas with a group of experts from local and national Tour de France partners, before finalising their proposals and heading for the Council Chamber.

Judging the Challenge was Cllr Lucinda Yeadon, the City Council's executive member for leisure and skill, Natalie Justice, project manager for Women's Cycling at British Cycling, and LGA executive director, Michael Coughlin – a former director of leisure, with more than a passing interest in sporting events.

First up was LG Generation with a presentation that included a creative musical piece of filming on bikes.  Following in their slipstream, Team Engage tried to win over the judges with a powerful storytelling narrative.

Both teams' ideas included an annual events programme, including female-only events; cycling routes in places of interest, art and culture; and cycle hubs where women could store, hire and buy bikes, seek expert advice and use changing rooms
and showering facilities.

LG Generation focused on fashion and style choices for cyclists and their bikes; cycle retreat holidays; and a network of cycle ambassadors. Team Engage proposed a cyclist awareness award scheme for HGV drivers; leisure centre spinning classes as a link to getting more women cycling; ‘bike bus' guided cycle routes; and daddy-daughter days.

They also linked their plan to Leeds City Council's ambition to become the 2023 European City of Culture.  The judges saw merit in many of the ideas from both teams, with Cllr Yeadon impressed enough to imagine many of them working in reality for Leeds.

Questioning from the judges focused not only on the detail of their ideas but also on team dynamic at the half way point of this year's challenges.

The contestants responded by expanding well on their ideas and strategies as well as standing unwavering as team mates.  However in the end team Engage took the yellow jersey, with their particularly well thought-through strategy and their clear, comprehensive and engaging document and presentation.

With three wins for team Engage, we await the next Challenge at Worcester City Council to see whether LG Generation can make a sprint-finish comeback.

Virginia Ponton is adviser, leadership and localism at the LGA

www.local.gov.uk – follow the Challenge sessions on film