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Stage towns announced for May's Tour de Yorkshire and sportive launched

Bridlington, Scarborough, Selby and Wakefield join Leeds and York in hosting Tour de France legacy event

Bridlington, Scarborough, Selby and Wakefield will join Leeds and York in hosting the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire next May, with the start and finishing towns for the three-day race announced today. The race, intended to help seal the legacy from this year’s Tour de France Grand Départ, will be accompanied by a sportive on Sunday 3 May.

Leeds and York both hosted the starts, respectively, of Stages 1 and 2 of July’s Tour de France, but the new race will also visit parts of the region that didn’t feature in this summer’s race, in particular the East Riding where Bridlington is located, and further up the coast in North Yorkshire, Scarborough.

We won’t know the detailed route, including where the three stages actually start and finish, until the official launch on 21 January, 100 days before the start of the race which runs from 1-3 May.

It is being jointly organised by ASO and Welcome to Yorkshire and with UCI 2.1 status will feature some of the sport’s biggest teams, as well as leading domestic outfits.

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme said: “I am delighted we are returning to Yorkshire where we saw the grandest ever Grand Départ for the Tour de France. It is clear the people of Yorkshire are passionate about cycling and we can’t wait to bring them this new race.”

Welcome to Yorkshire, meanwhile, is looking to build upon that spectacular start to the Tour de France which saw in excess of 3 million people line the roadside during the race’s two-day visit, boosting the local economy by more than £100 million.

Its chief executive, Gary Verity, said: “This is another huge milestone for Yorkshire as we position the county as the cycling heartland of Europe.

“This is the first ever Tour de Yorkshire, I am confident it will become a huge annual event and something that will raise Yorkshire’s profile year on year.”

Cyclists can register now for the Tour de Yorkshire Sportive, enabling them to benefit from a discount when places go on sale.

It will take place on the same day and the same roads as Stage 3 of the professional event and will be delivered by Human Race, organisers of the Wiggle Dragon Ride.

Three route options will be available – 140km, 100km, and 50km, with the shorter distance also playing host to a women-only Cycletta ride. Full route details will be made available in January, but will include some roads used during this year’s Tour de France.

Five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault said: “The Tour de France has had a sportive alongside it for many years and it’s a unique experience for amateur riders to ride at L’Etape; so to have this similar experience available at the Tour de Yorkshire will be magnifique and something all keen riders will want to be part of.”

Welcome to Yorkshire’s Verity added: "This is a fantastic chance for people to ride this iconic route and we hope it will, as part of the legacy of the Grand Départ, get more people of all ages and all abilities cycling."

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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6 comments

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antonio | 9 years ago
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'It is clear the people of Yorkshire are passionate about
cycling ' err, not to mention the thousands of Lancashire lads and lassies that supported the event, in Yorkshire.

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andyp replied to antonio | 9 years ago
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antonio wrote:

'It is clear the people of Yorkshire are passionate about
cycling ' err, not to mention the thousands of Lancashire lads and lassies that supported the event, in Yorkshire.

..and in Lancashire and Derbyshire

Avatar
andyb56 | 9 years ago
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Looking forward to a start/finish in my home city of Wakefield. Starting to speculate on the routes already. Wakefield to Leeds via Holme Moss? Selby to York via Hull/Beverley? Bridlington to Scarborough via the North York Moors?  4

Avatar
Joselito | 9 years ago
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Should've called it T'tour o' Yorkshire.

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Quince replied to Joselito | 9 years ago
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Joselito wrote:

Should've called it T'tour o' Yorkshire.

Just as the Tour de France is often shortened to 'Le Tour', I imagine this event might become simply known as ' t'Tour '.

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jollygoodvelo replied to Quince | 9 years ago
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Quince wrote:
Joselito wrote:

Should've called it T'tour o' Yorkshire.

Just as the Tour de France is often shortened to 'Le Tour', I imagine this event might become simply known as ' t'Tour '.

Pronounced "[head nod]too-er".  1

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