Government backs British bid for UCI Road World Championships

The government says it is backing a bid to bring the UCI Road World Championships back to the UK for the first time in nearly four decades, with the proposed event looking likely to be based in the North of England.

In today's Comprehensive Spending Review, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, the government said it was committed to bringing more top level sporting events to the UK, with the UCI Road World Championships singled out as one of two events where it said it would support bids.

In its Spending Review and Autumn Statement document, HM Treasury said: "The government is increasing its funding for elite sport to build on the success of Olympic and Paralympic games at London 2012 and support Team GB’s ambition for success in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

"Following the success of hosting London 2012 and the Rugby Union World Cup the government will support the ambition to host the cycling Road World Championships and 2021 Rugby League World Cup in the Northern Powerhouse. "

British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake said this evening that he welcomed the government's continued support for elite sport and to lend its backing to a bid for the road worlds, adding that such high-profile events help ensure "a participation legacy for the sport" that could boost the economy by up to £640 million.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity said earlier this year that bringing the UCI Road World Championships to the region was a logical next step following the phenomenally successful Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2014 and inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in May, and that preliminary talks had been held with British Cycling.

Tour success strengthens Yorkshire’s World Championships

The UCI Road World Championships have  been held in the UK on three occasions – in Liverpool in 1922, Leicester in 1970 and at West Sussex’s Goodwood motor racing circuit in 1982.

Great Britain's cyclists have enjoyed success in the event in recent years, with Mark Cavendish taking the men's road title in 2011 and Sir Bradley Wiggins winning the time trial in 2014, while Nicole Cooke in 2008 and Lizzie Armitstead in September this year have both won the rainbow jersey in the women's road race.

Next year's UCI Track World Championships will take place at London's Lee Valley Velopark, where Team GB's track cyclists were dominant at the 2012 Olympic Games.

The earliest the UK could host the road equivalent is 2019, with next year's event taking place in Doha, Qatar, while the 2017 and 2018 editions will be held respectively in Bergen, Norway, and Innsbruck, Austria.

Verity said: "We welcome today’s Government spending review which follows the Chancellor’s statement of support in February 2015 for a Yorkshire bid for the UCI Road World Championships. 

"We have a long and distinguished history in cycling, and through hosting world class events have placed ourselves firmly on the path to being the European capital of cycling. 

"The past two years alone have reminded the world how Yorkshire has cycling at its heart, not just as a sport but both as a form of recreation and transport.

"The phenomenal and widely documented success of the Tour de France Grand Départ and the new Tour de Yorkshire have demonstrated an appetite for cycling not only from our local authorities, but residents, media, schools, visitors and of course from the riders who have experienced racing on our roads.

"Nowhere else in the UK do these things combine and together they make an incredibly strong case for the World Championships to be held in Yorkshire."

He added: "We look forward to further discussions with both the government and British Cycling."