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Tour success strengthens Yorkshire’s World Championships ambitionsTour de Yorkshire 2015 final podium (SWPix, Welcome to Yorkshire)

Tour success strengthens Yorkshire’s World Championships ambitions

Gary Verity aims to bring race for rainbow jersey back to UK after three decade absence
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, May 04, 2015 13:14
7

Yorkshire could be a step closer to hosting the UCI Road World Championships after a phenomenally successful first edition of the Tour de Yorkshire that brought nearly 1.5 million people onto the streets to watch the three-day race.

Around half of those watched yesterday’s final stage from Wakefield to Leeds, despite intermittent rain, while six figure crowds also greeted Friday’s opener from Bridlington to Scarborough and Saturday’s stage from Selby to York.

Yesterday, the throng on some of the climbs was similar to that seen during last year’s Tour de France Grand Depart, an astonishing turnout for a race that is ranked UCI.2.1.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity says that teaming up with British Cycling to bid to host the Worlds is a logical next step.

“We would love to have the world championships here in Yorkshire,” said Verity, reports Mail Online. “It's an obvious thing.

“The world championships I think would love to come to Yorkshire after what you've seen over the last few days, one and a half million people out for the first edition of a new race.

“You see much smaller crowds at other events so why wouldn't you want to come here? We have all the ingredients.”

British Cycling partnered with Welcome to Yorkshire and Tour de France owners ASO to host the Tour de Yorkshire, which will return next year with a different route and different start and finish towns.

Verity said that while he has spoken with British Cycling about the possibility of a bid being made, discussions are at an early stage.

The UCI Road World Championships have taken place twice before in the UK – in Liverpool in 1922, Leicester in 1970 and at West Sussex’s Goodwood motor racing circuit in 1982.

Certainly Yorkshire’s terrain seems entirely suitable for the type of race that typically features in the race for the rainbow jersey – one of attrition, where short but tough climbs continue to make a selection until just the strongest riders are left in contention.

This year's event is being held in Richmond, Virginia.

Tour de Yorkshire 2015
UCI Road World Championships
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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Leodis | 8 years ago
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Great weekend with over 1.5 million people turning up was fantastic, thats the main thing.

I think what was needed was more security, we did witness a tour maker moving barriers in York to allow people to cross the road, this was about 200 yards from a crossing point. I will add when I witnessed a 5 year old drag his bike onto the course I spoke with a tour maker and they sorted it asap.

I take my hat off to all the makers, tough job at times and giving up your own time and many had travelled some way.

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Gkam84 | 8 years ago
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I guess that was aimed at me and not Andy?

No, I was't at the training, but I know people who were, including a number of people who volunteer their time every year at the Tour de France, infact, one of them has been doing it for over 12 years, whom attended the "training" all the briefings and was there one all three days to be a tour maker. Needless to say, he won't be back in Yorkshire doing it again.

I was there, giving my time for free in other ways, making sure that the team were prepared, everything with their bikes was ready to race. Infact I also spent the whole week in the area on my own dime getting things ready aswell.

My view of the tour makers was not based on one or two people, but based on years of being at races and seeing how things should be done, talking to many of the tour makers, security and the race organisers at Yorkshire.

I liked the tour, just the people who were there to do certain jobs, not doing them that got my back up. The picture I have attached was a typical sight of the tour makers, standing behind the crowd, doing a whole lot of nothing.

I could go on forever about the faults I saw down there, but I'll spare you the novel, I just wanted to point out a few things I saw.

Congratulations on your first post Mupperkepper, keep up the great work 24

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muppetkeeper replied to Gkam84 | 8 years ago
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Ahhhh, the famous "I know people who were" line. Maybe your "friend" should have pointed out that the Police Commander who ran the training was also the policeman who ran the TdF security last year, shame he forgot everything he learned last year.

I'm not quite sure what you were expecting from the 150 police, 300 security and 2000 or so volunteers, 1.5 million people turned up, which by my dodgy maths is about 600 spectators each.

I must have missed all these other perfectly run bike races, in the Paris Roubaix they couldn't even control the riders enough to miss an express train, and int he last couple of weeks Shimano neutral service seem to be looking to reduce the number of pro riders.

Congratulations on your large number of posts, I just hope they aren't all as negative as this one.

Lets have a photo caption competition, I'll start, "Tour Makers found guilty of standing out of the way of spectators" or "Tour Makers save small children who forgot bike locks"

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muppetkeeper | 8 years ago
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@ bikeandy61, I didn't see you at the Tour Maker training, oh, that's right, you didn't go, so how do you know what we were asked to do by the Police and security teams?

I'm sorry if your sample of a couple of Tour Makers wasn't up to a standard you have made up. I'm sure the two you talked to were 100% representative of the 2000 or so people who gave up their own time for free to help out.

It was the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, sorry that means the first one, you probably didn't understand that long word, so maybe some people have something to learn. Instead of offering helpful advice, you rubbish the whole event and all the people who were there.

I won't stoop to your level, but if you didn't like the tour, please feel free to stay in your no hope little county next time, we won't miss you, not one bit.

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Yorkshie Whippet | 8 years ago
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I'd go a step further and ask that the Police are trained on what to do with cyclist. Ok it was an open road but several plod vans pulled into the left, indicated left and pulled out to the right. Or came alongside cyclist and forced their way into packs.

If they can not even get the basics right what hope have we got?

Shame a few stopped the whole weekend being absolutely spot on.

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Gkam84 | 8 years ago
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They'd need proper security and decent training for those "tour makers".

The hired in security had no idea what they were doing, given an orange jacket and told to stand there. Opening barriers whenever they wanted to let people cross the course, right in front of police motor bikes.

Tour makers of similar standard.

I ended up in a tour makers bib on Friday, simply because they had no-one to sort out the crowds on a climb, most of the tour makers I saw on Friday and Saturday had cameras out, taking pictures and weren't interested in the safety of the crowds, riders or themselves.

One example on Friday, I was at the top of the climb out of Robin Hood's Bay, just over the KOM point, there was a car park on either side of the road. So once the first couple of groups of riders were through, everyone was sprinting back to their cars and joining the convoy, not caring about who or what was in their way, this despite the road being closed for another hour, no police to control them as the community officers were to busy standing in a circle further down the climb enjoying ice cream. I went and stood between the car parks and was shouting at people to stay off the road as riders came through. For a "top class" event, the standards of the people supposed to be there to do a job were shocking to say the least.

To top off the weekend of people not knowing things, I arrived on Friday night in York at the race course, so I was there first thing in the morning to help the team. The hired in security were ok, they directed me to two men from the ASO, I spoke to them, they knew NOTHING of a women's race, got me to open my van and show them what I had in there and then had a laugh about the women racing...pissed me right off.

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bikeandy61 | 8 years ago
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Yep Sundays stage route with a "few" extra kms would surely make for a superb RR World Champs Par Course. I can just hear a load of international nay sayers - "UK got it because Brian Cookson is president and he's a Brit".

Fingers crossed though.

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