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Tour de Yorkshire - opening ceremony is tonight

The routes for the three stages of the Tour de Yorkshire.

The opening ceremony of the inaugural Tour De Yorkshire takes place tonight.

Following the success the Grand Depart of last year's Tour De France, in Yorkshire, organisers have created a new annual cycle race for region.

Starting on Friday, the race will feature top riders such as Sir Bradley Wiggins and Marcel Kittell.

An opening ceremony for the race will take place this evening in York.

The race has three stages and includes a women’s event on 2nd May, a mass participation sportive on 3rd May and a cultural festival.

Stage one on Friday 1st May will start in seaside town of Bridlington and 174km later finish further up the coast in Scarborough. The riders will pass through the North York Moors landscapes. From the start line in Bridlington the riders will head along the Flamborough Head Heritage Coast before turning away from the coast into the North York Moors National Park, through Dalby Forest and towards Pickering. They’ll then take a spectacular journey back to the coast at Whitby, and then south to Robin Hood’s Bay with the ultimate race to the finish line on the seafront at Scarborough. The last section of this stage will be particularly tough, especially the climb out of Robin Hood’s Bay, which is 1.5km long and has an average gradient of 10.3%.

LOCATIONS:

  • Bridlington
  • Hunmanby
  • Dalby Forest
  • Pickering
  • Danby
  • Grosmont
  • Robin Hood's Bay
  • Flamborough
  • East Ayton
  • Thronton le Dale
  • Rosedale Abbey
  • Glaisdale
  • Whitby
  • Scarborough

Stage two on Saturday 2nd May will see the race start outside the imposing Selby Abbey. The route takes in much of the Wolds, and from Selby will take the peloton towards Market Weighton, through North Newbald and on to Beverley, where they will turn north to Malton, then on to Stamford Bridge. Spectators will have the chance to see a circuit of York. As part of the legacy of the Tour de France to get more women cycling there will also be a dedicated women’s event on a circuit through York.

LOCATIONS:

  • Selby
  • North Newbald
  • Cherry Burton
  • Stamford Bridge
  • York
  • Market Weighton
  • Beverley
  • Wetwang
  • Norton nr. Malton

The final day, Sunday 3rd May will see the peloton make a return to some of the roads raced in the 2014 Yorkshire Grand Départ of the Tour de France, only with a twist; starting in Wakefield, riders will travel south to Barnsley before heading to Holmfirth where they pick up the Grand Départ route in reverse, racing to Ripponden before riding the iconic Cragg Vale – which in the Tour de France was the country’s longest continual climb and now becomes the longest continual descent. The riders will then make their way to Hebden Bridge, Oxenhope and through Haworth, one of the most iconic images of the Tour de France in Yorkshire. After a steep climb at Goose Eye the riders will once again see Ilkley, with the famous climb up the Cow & Calf before a sprint point at Arthington and then what is expected to be a hugely popular finish line in Roundhay Park in Leeds.

LOCATIONS:

  • Wakefield
  • Holmfirth
  • Ripponden
  • Hebden Bridge
  • Addingham
  • Leeds
  • Barnsley
  • Marsden
  • Cragg Vale
  • Haworth
  • Ilkley