Tour de Yorkshire misses out Rotherham

Team Sky’s Ben Swift joined former Tour de France stage winner Brian Robinson this week to unveil the three-day event’s destinations.

The closest international cycle race on the first three days of May will come to Rotherham is Barnsley, which features on the third day’s route.

Sheffield, where tens of thousands lined the route of the Tour de France last July in amazing scenes beamed around the world, has also been left out.

The race has three stages and includes a women’s event on May 2, a mass participation sportive on May 3 and a cultural festival.

Stage one will start in seaside town of Bridlington and finish in Scarborough, having passed over the North York Moors and through Pickering and Whitby, while the following day will feature a ride from Selby Abbey to York via Market Weighton, Beverley and Malton.

The final day will see the peloton heading from Wakefield to Leeds via Barnsley, Holmfirth and Haworth.

A spokeswoman for the event pointed out: “The inaugural Tour de Yorkshire route takes in places predominantly in areas which missed out on the Tour de France as it passed through Yorkshire.”

She said the organisers had been inundated with bids from all over the county and hoped to include other venues in future years, meaning Rotherham may yet be on the route.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “The Tour de Yorkshire will bring back many of the world's top cycling teams and there will be an opportunity for ordinary people to ride the same roads on the same day.

“This is a free event to watch so there is an opportunity for everyone in the county to be part of Tour de Yorkshire in one way or another.”