Government funding boost to help promote our Tour de Yorkshire overseas
Yorkshire is to be given a £800,000 boost to help with building new cycling facilities and marketing the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire to international visitors.
Selby
The new funds have been announced today by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and have been pledged to support the major cycling event as it gives host towns, including Selby, their moment in the spotlight.
Around £300,000 of the new money will be invested by Yorkshire's tourism body, Welcome to Yorkshire, to promote both the event and the wider region to bring in more tourists from overseas.
A further £500,000 will be used to improve cycling facilities in across the county. The investment will help towards the costs of constructing a number of cycle circuits throughout the county.
The move will provide sites that will help increase cycling participation in the region as well as help train new talent, potentially nurturing future Olympic, Paralympic and Tour de France champions.
The Deputy Prime Minister said, "Yorkshire wore the yellow jersey with pride last year, with an incredible staging of the Tour de France Grand Depart. The Tour de Yorkshire this summer is the perfect opportunity to build on this lasting legacy, attracting visitors again, which in turn will boost business in the region.
Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, added, "It is our ambition for the Tour de Yorkshire to be one of the best three-day cycle races in the world so this funding to help us promote the event internationally is very welcome. Last summer people saw the glorious landscape of Yorkshire as a perfect setting for a world class event, and they’ll see that again this May - and hopefully for many years to come."
Yorkshire’s local economy benefitted to the tune of over £100 million when it hosted the Tour de France Grand Depart last year and areas that missed out on 'Le Tour', such as Selby, are hoping for their share of the riches this time around. It is hoped that today’s announcement will help Selby and Yorkshire to build on that legacy.
The Tour de Yorkshire is being co-ogranised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the team behind the Tour de France. They were so impressed with Yorkshire’s role in staging the biggest cycle race in the world that they agreed to stage a new international road race this year, working in partnership with Welcome to Yorkshire.
The Tour de Yorkshire will run from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 3. Stage one begins in Bridlington and finished in Scarborough, stage two begins in Selby and finishes in York while stage three starts in Wakefield and will finish in Leeds.