After two years of trying, the Tour de Yorkshire will expand in 2018, with the men’s race increasing from three days to four days and the women’s event growing from a one-day race to a two-day stage race.
The Tour de Yorkshire was set up as a legacy of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ and, much like those couple of days, such big crowds turned out for the inaugural edition that the organisers immediately sought to add an extra day for the 2016 edition.
However, their attempts had until now been blocked by British Cycling, much to the frustration of Gary Verity, the head of Welcome to Yorkshire, which runs the race in collaboration with Tour de France organiser ASO.
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This year, Britain’s governing body did not stand in the way of the race’s plans, and on Thursday the UCI confirmed the expanded races as part of the 2018 calendar.
“This is absolutely tremendous news and something we have long been working to achieve. We are grateful to British Cycling for supporting our application, and to the UCI for granting us this extension,” said Verity. “Seeing the Tour de Yorkshire grow into what it is today is one of my team’s very proudest achievements and none of this would have been possible if the people of Yorkshire - and Great Britain - hadn’t taken the race to their hearts.
“This decision will help us attract even bigger names in the future and allow us to design a more varied and spectacular route. Our race is growing in stature all the time and the next two editions will hold even greater prestige given that Yorkshire is also hosting the UCI Road World Championships in 2019. Cycling is booming across the county and today marks an exciting new chapter for our race.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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