Disabled rider to lead out start of Tour de Yorkshire on adapted bike

Four disabled cyclists will take part in the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire. riding out with the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins on specially adapted bikes.

Bethany Playforth, who began cycling 12 months ago on an adapted bike flag the start of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire when it departs from the Spa Bridlington on 1 May in the first stage of a three day event.

Bethany first got to use an adapted bike when a scheme East Riding of Yorkshire Council All Ride made one available to her.

Bridlington, Scarborough, Selby and Wakefield will join Leeds and York in hosting the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in May.

The race, intended to help seal the legacy from last year’s Tour de France Grand Départ, will be accompanied by a sportive on Sunday 3 May.

Bethany will be joined by James Kilner, John Turner, and Leona Hull, all using specially adapted bikes with the support of staff.

John Fortnum, team leader at Priory View, told Spenborough Guardian: “It will be absolutely wonderful to see our service users playing such an important role in what will be a truly major event for the area.

“Everyone, not least those who will be taking part, are really excited about this and we will all be there on the day to cheer them on.”

Bethany has been a regular user of All Ride since the scheme was launched last June and she is now trying to raise the £4,000 needed to purchase a wheelchair adapted bike so another disabled person can benefit from the scheme too.

East Riding community sports coach Adam Swann said: “The work Bethany did in the build up to her sponsored cycle or walk is amazing and it’s great that all her friends from Priory View took part.

“The money Bethany raises from her event will go towards the purchase of another wheelchair adapted bike and for that we are extremely grateful to Bethany.”

Anyone wanting to sponsor Bethany’s event can do so by calling Priory View on (01262) 602477.

Leeds and York both hosted the starts, respectively, of Stages 1 and 2 of last 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.

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Marcel Kittel will ride in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire.

Wiggins will head up his own Team WIGGINS, which he will join in April after Paris-Roubaix, while Kittel, winner of the opening stage of last year’s Tour de France in Harrogate to take the yellow jersey, returns with his Giant-Alpecin team.

That’s one of five WorldTeams that will compete in three-day race, ranked UCI 2.1, the others being Team Sky, BMC Racing, Lotto NL-Jumbo and IAM Cycling.

They will be joined by six Professional Continental Teams – Cofidis, Europcar, MTN-Qhubeka, Cult Energy, Roompot Oranje Peloton and Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise., four Continental Teams – Team WIGGINS, NFTO, ONE Pro Cycling and Madison Genesis, and a Great Britain National Team.

The opening stage on Friday 1 May runs from Bridlington to Scarborough and will be followed by stages from Selby to York and Wakefield to Leeds.

The second day will also see a women’s race tackling four laps of a 20km circuit in York, with one team already confirmed being Dame Sarah Storey’s Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International.

The Tour de Yorkshire will be broadcast live on ITV and Eurosport.