LE TOUR LEGACY LIVES ON
International recognition for county of cycling
IT IS billed as the biggest annual sporting event in the world, but many were sceptical as to just how much the region would benefit in the long-term from staging the Tour de France’s Grand Départ.
However, its lasting legacy is being felt three years on, as Yorkshire was named as the first place in the UK to be recognised by cycling’s world governing body as a bike champion for its links to the sport.
The region is now officially classed as a UCI Bike Region, cementing its status as a worldclass cycling destination with the annual Tour de Yorkshire race continuing to prove a lasting legacy. Yorkshire received the award from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) at a ceremony in Bergen, Norway, where the Road World Championships are currently taking place.
The county was one of five cities and regions to receive the accolade this year along with Fyn, in Denmark, Heusden-Zolder, in Belgium, and Woensdrecht and Gelderland, in Holland. Only eight places have been bestowed the honour so far since the awards were relaunched in 2015, with Bergen and Drenthe and Limburg-Valkenburg, in Holland, each receiving one in 2016.
The body grants UCI Bike City or Region status to locations that demonstrate “an outstanding commitment to growing and promoting everyday cycling”, as well as hosting major UCI cycling events.
Yorkshire fits that bill, with the region launching cycling strategies across its 22 local authorities, which target events, infrastructure, training, education and tourism.
Headline initiatives include the £35m Cycle Superhighway, which now links Leeds and Bradford, and the 46 Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries that the tourism agency, Welcome to Yorkshire, has opened since 2014, where children gain free access to bikes.
Welcome to Yorkshire’s chief executive, Sir Gary Verity, said: “We are thrilled that Yorkshire has been granted UCI Bike Region status and it is testament to the great work that has been done – and continues to be done – across the county.
“The UCI award these labels to cities and regions that promote cycling, and use it as a way to create better, safer and more active communities. In Yorkshire we are doing just that and it’s tremendous news that our combined efforts are being recognised in such high quarters.”
In 2019, the UCI Road World Championships will be staged in the Yorkshire region, with 12 races taking place over nine days and 1,000 of the best male and female riders from as many as 75 countries set to compete.
Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch, said: “Yorkshire has deservedly won this recognition from the UCI. The honour is a testament to the hard work of all those involved in opening the region up to cyclists, and the lasting legacy from hosting the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2014 and the Tours de Yorkshire since. I know the people of Yorkshire will also get right behind the UCI World Road Championships in 2019 too that will further cement the county’s strong links to cycling.”
The UCI’s president, Brian Cookson, said Yorkshire was “a shining example” of what can be achieved, adding: “We hope it will inspire other countries to develop bikefriendly environments for their communities and visitors.”
Yorkshire has deservedly won this recognition from the UCI. Tracey Crouch MP, Minister for Sport