Yorkshire named as host of 2019 UCI Road World Championships

Yorkshire will host the UCI road World Championships in 2019, the UCI announced on Wednesday in Doha

The 2015 Tour de Yorkshire

(Image credit: ASO / G. DEMOUVEAUX)

Yorkshire has been named as the host of the 2019 Road World Championships by cycling’s governing body the UCI.

The county’s bid, which was backed with £24m of funding from the government, saw off competition from several other bidders.

The Worlds were last held in the UK in 1982 at Goodwood in West Sussex and British races have enjoyed great support in recent years, partly thanks to Yorkshire's hosting of the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2014.

Yorkshire has a long-standing association with cycling but this has grown in recent years following the county hosting the Tour de France and the launch of the Tour de Yorkshire in 2015.

Earlier this year it missed out on the chance to host the European Road Race championships, which were held in Plumelec, France.

Welcome to Yorkshire’s bid won’t have been hurt by the backing of multiple top teams, which Verity revealed to Cycling Weekly in August.

UCI president Brian Cookson said: "Since hosting the Tour de France’s Grand Départ in 2014 and subsequent Tours de Yorkshire, the county has proved it is a fitting host for road cycling’s leading annual event and we are sure there will be world class crowds to match.”

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity added: “Today marks a moment in history. Yorkshire has shown it can host world-class events with the Grand Départ and Tours de Yorkshire, and now the county has been chosen to host the nine-day UCI Road World Championships in 2019.

“We have got the scenery, the crowds, and the warm welcome, and we are sure the world’s best riders will love the challenging roads we have to offer.”

The week-long series of World Championships events includes time trials and road races with the winner of each category claiming the right to swear to hallowed rainbow jersey for the following year.

This year’s edition is currently under way in Doha, Qatar. Bergen, Norway, and Innsbruck-Tirol, Austria, will host the 2017 and 2018 editions respectively.

The UCI also announced that Berlin will host the 2020 track cycling World Championships.

 

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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.