Cycle-themed artworks on shortlist for awards

A GIANT grass painting of a cyclist, a huge rainbow jersey and a gigantic fish on a bicycle are among the 10 creations to make it through to the final of a land art competition celebrating the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.

Thirty days on from the conclusion of the international sporting event, Yorkshire 2019 and Welcome to Yorkshire yesterday announced the shortlisted artworks as the public vote to select the winner was opened.

Spectacular land art has become synonymous with worldclass cycling in Yorkshire and ever since the Tour de France visited the county in 2014, more and more installations have popped up in every subsequent edition of the Tour de Yorkshire.

Yorkshire 2019 were keen to continue that tradition during this year’s championships and joined forces with Welcome to Yorkshire to launch their own version of the competition on Yorkshire Day this year.

Those who entered saw their giant creations being beamed from locations including Baildon, Carperby, Northallerton and Shipley to an estimated global TV audience of 250m people.

Yorkshire 2019 chief executive Andy Hindley said: “This competition is our way of saying thank you to all those imaginative people who went to such great lengths to produce these wonderful pieces of art.

“They all looked absolutely stunning on TV and demonstrated how proud people were to have this once-in-a-generation event visiting their communities.”