All four Yorkshire counties visited as Tour de France legacy race expands
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Should Yorkshire be successful in its bid for the 2019 Worlds, the fans are sure to pack the roads(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tour de Yorkshire 2018 map(Image credit: Welcome To Yorkshire)
Serge Pauwels on the Tour de Yorkshire podium after winning the final stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lizzie Deignan in the Tour de Yorkshire podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Gary Verity and Christian Prudhomme observe(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Tour de Yorkshire will visit Barnsley, Beverley, Doncaster, Halifax, Ilkley, Leeds, Richmond and Scarborough in 2018. The race organisation unveiled the host towns for the first edition of the race in its expanded form on Thursday morning.
It was announced earlier this month that the men's event will increase from three to four days next year, while the women's event will grow from a one-day race to a two-day stage race.
The race was established as a legacy event for the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart in the British region, and the organisers – Welcome to Yorkshire and ASO – had been pushing for expansion ever since a successful inaugural edition in 2015.
"With the men's race being extended to four days and the women's race now being held over two, it means we can visit more parts of the county and I know our eight start and finish locations will put on a real show," said Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire.
It is not yet clear how the locations will link together over the four days of racing, with the full route due to be announced on December 5.
The region of Yorkshire, in the north of England, is divided into four counties – north, south, east, and west. Two 2018 host locations, Doncaster and Barnsley, are situated in South Yorkshire, while Leeds, Halifax, and Ilkley are all in West Yorkshire, Richmond and Scarborough in North Yorkshire, and Beverley in East Yorkshire.
Scarborough has hosted a stage finish in all three editions of the race, while Leeds and Doncaster have also been used for finishes on one occasion, and Beverley once as a stage start.
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"Next year's Tour de Yorkshire is shaping up to be the best yet with more stages for the men's and women's races and, at British Cycling, we're looking forward to working with colleagues and partners across the county to use the inspiration of the world's best riders to get even more people on bikes," said Julie Harrington, chief executive of British Cycling.
Last year's edition of the race attracted a record 2.2 million spectators to the roadside, while the action was viewed on television by 9.7 million people across 180 countries, according to figures from Welcome to Yorkshire.
