A major new international cycle race for Yorkshire has been confirmed to take place in May 2015.
A major new international cycle race for Yorkshire has been confirmed by the sport’s world governing body, the UCI.
The provisionally titled Tour de Yorkshire – run by Welcome to Yorkshire and Amaury Sport Organisation (which operates the Tour de France) and backed by British Cycling – has been officially added to the world cycling calendar for 2015.
The three day event will begin on 1 May next year and hopes to include parts of the county that this year's Yorkshire Grand Départ did not visit.
The format will see three full stages take place over the three days, and there is also an intention to have a women’s race and a mass participation sportive as part of the event.
This new official international cycle race heralds the start of a world-class event for Yorkshire that we want to see grow over the coming years to become known the world over. We already have a huge amount of interest thanks to the Yorkshire Grand Départ, which captured the imagination of millions of people globally – and the Tour de Yorkshire will be a fitting legacy. We’re confident that come May, we’ll deliver something very special
– Gary Verity, Welcome to Yorkshire