Mayor mourns cancellation of TdY cycle race

Enthusiasm for cycling lingers on in Nidderdale as this giant bike at Coldstone Cut, Pateley Bridge shows. Picture Gerard Binks

The stage race had been due to involve a four-day men’s race going from Beverley to Redcar, followed by Skipton to Leyburn, then Barnsley to Huddersfield and followed by Halifax to Leeds. A two-day women’s race was planned for the middle two stages.

The decision by race organisers Welcome to Yorkshire and the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) followed months of discussions about who would foot the bill for staging the event, which had been planned for next May.

Mayor of Pateley Bridge Coun Mike Holt said: “I personally am disappointed that the Tour has been cancelled again.

“Pateley Bridge has been on the map for cycle races since 2014 and the ‘Grand Depart’ of the Tour de France that year and although very controversial, was also on a number of the UCI world championship routes held in 2019.

“Pateley Bridge has always welcomed the teams, competitors and fans to the area and I hope that Welcome to Yorkshire will be able to reinstate the event for 2023.

Stage Four of the men’s race, from Halifax to Leeds, was due to pass through Masham and Pateley Bridge.

Local councils due to host different stages had been asked to pay an extra £100,000 each to underwrite any potential shortfall in sponsorship on top of their £100,000 initial fees. ASO, which also organises the Tour de France, had not wanted to shoulder any potential losses from the event.

The two organisations said that the decision to call off the event next year had been made by “mutual consent”.

Staging the event costs around £2m and was funded by a combination of contributions from local authorities, sponsorship and advertising.

Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive James Mason said: “This has been an intense period of back and forth discussions about the 2022 Tour de Yorkshire over many months.

“The race is a much-loved international sports event which showcases Yorkshire across the globe.

“We had every intention for the race to go ahead but unfortunately some of the circumstances were out of our control and sometimes you have to make big calls for the right reasons.

“We still have ambitions for large events going forward to put Yorkshire on the world stage and we will continue to work with our partners to plan for those.”