Tour of Britain sees elite cycling return to North Yorkshire

The Tour of Britain will make a first visit to Yorkshire since 2009 this year as the eight-day cycle race makes its way from Aberdeen to the Isle of Wight.

Organisers have revealed the basic outline of the route for September's race, which will again bypass London as it travels from Scotland to the south coast via Sunderland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire and Dorset.

The Yorkshire leg will come on the fourth day of the race, September 7, with a stage that will start in Redcar before heading into the North Yorkshire Moors.

Yorkshire County Council leader Cllr Carl Les said: "We are delighted to once again welcome major competitive cycling to North Yorkshire.

"The route the race will take within the county is currently being finalised to provide a thrilling ride while maximising opportunities for people to enjoy the race."

Since the Tour of Britain last raced through Yorkshire, the county became famous in cycling circles for hosting the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France before launching the Tour de Yorkshire as a legacy event.

However, the latter race has been cancelled in each of the past two years amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and will not take place in 2022 either, with question marks over whether it will ever return.

Redcar had been due to host the finish of the opening stage of the 2020 Tour de Yorkshire before its cancellation.

Tour of Britain director Mick Bennett said: "We are thrilled to be returning to North Yorkshire with the Tour of Britain and know what a warm welcome the race will receive.

"Together with our partners at North Yorkshire County Council, we are workingto create a fantastic route and engage all of the communities along it, resulting in what will no doubt be a memorable stage of the Tour."

Aberdeen had already been confirmed as the venue for the Grand Depart on September 4, a year after it hosted the final stage of the 2021 Tour, in which Wout Van Aert took victory on the day to pip Britain's Ethan Hayter to the overall win.

From there the race will head south, with stage three to finish in Sunderland before the visit to Yorkshire a day later.

After a visit to Nottinghamshire, the race will enter new territory with a first full stage within Gloucestershire and a visit to Dorset, which has not hosted an international cycling event since the Milk Race in the 1980s.

The Tour will run from September 4-11.

Stage one           Sunday 4 September      Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

Stage two           Monday 5 September    South of Scotland

Stage three        Tuesday 6 September    North East of England and Sunderland

Stage four          Wednesday 7 September Redcar & Cleveland and North Yorkshire

Stage five           Thursday 8 September   Nottinghamshire

Stage six             Friday 9 September        Gloucestershire

Stage seven       Saturday 10 September Dorset

Stage eight         Sunday 11 September    Isle of Wight