Tour de Yorkshire to start and finish in North Yorkshire for a second time

Once again the Tour de Yorkshire will be riding through North Yorkshire, as the start and finish lines of the second Tour de Yorkshire international cycle race have been confirmed for Settle and Scarborough.

The race, which will be held on Friday 29 April through to Sunday 1 May, 2016, is establishing itself as a flagship cycling event in the UK, building upon the success of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart.

Last year, the Grand Depart provided a huge boost for the region’s tourism sector, with figures from Visit England previously revealing that visitor spend was up by 45% since last June.

Businesses also reported Yorkshire’s Grand Départ prompted a major increase in bookings over the last 12 months.

The full route details will be unveiled later in December 2015, which will set out which locations will be a start or finish and the routes taken between them and it is expected that North Yorkshire will again host a significant amount of the three day route. The routes will be different to those raced in 2015.

The Tour de Yorkshire is run by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Welcome to Yorkshire (WtY) and supported by British Cycling and last year, in its inaugural race, it attracted top international teams and cycling stars and was broadcast live on national television and throughout the world. The event was supported by local authorities across Yorkshire.

Councillor Carl Les, the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: “There is no doubt that the county of Yorkshire has firmly established itself on the international cycling map and it is important that North Yorkshire plays a key role, as we know how these events have strengthened the county’s economy and given a huge boost for our tourism industries.

“Now in its second year, the race will reach other parts of the county, such as those in the Craven district, as well as revisiting the beautiful east coast which gave such a show case to the event in 2015.”

Cllr Andrew Backhouse, Scarborough Borough Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, Tourism and Culture, added: “We are delighted that the race organisers have chosen the Borough of Scarborough to host part of Tour de Yorkshire 2016. This year’s race experience was a triumph for all involved and to be given the chance to get a slice of the action for a second year running is fabulous news for the whole area. Not only will it be a thrilling spectacle for residents and visitors to watch and another economic boost for local businesses, the international attention and media coverage the race continues to attract is something money can’t buy. Once again, we’ll be able to show the world what a wonderful place the Yorkshire coast is.”

Councillor Richard Foster, Craven District Council leader, also commented: “The Tour de France was fantastic for our area, and the Tour de Yorkshire has been very successful this year. It’s clear that cycling events are very popular in this part of the world. In agreeing the funding members were very clear that they wanted other areas outside of Skipton to reap the benefits of a top-class sporting event. We are therefore delighted that another area of Craven will now have the opportunity to play host to such an event”

One and a half million people lined the route of the first Tour de Yorkshire and it was broadcast to over 150 countries around the world.

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