Planning has started for the Tour de Yorkshire 2016.
And organisers are promising a new route through different towns and cities after the stunning success of the race at the weekend.
An estimated 1.5m people poured out on to the streets of the county to watch some of the world’s top riders in action.
They brought in millions of pounds to the local economy and put Yorkshire on the global map through newspaper and TV coverage.
Gary Verity, from Welcome to Yorkshire, says the inaugural race over the Bank Holiday weekend “exceeded expectations”, with 1.5 million spectators watching it.
He said: “We want to be even better next year. We’ve already started looking at different aspects that could come together to make that happen and the boffins will now start to calculate the economic impact”.
The first-ever Tour de Yorkshire rode itself into the history books after a momentous three days of racing. Some 1.5m fans at the roadside and TV audiences in more than 150 countries have witnessed some of Yorkshire’s finest scenery, with crowds at key points in the race comparable with the Tour de France.
Initial spectator figures from police and race organisers indicate that on Stage One, 250,000 people watched by the roadside, followed by 450,000 on Stage Two and 750,000 on Stage Three which saw the riders through Huddersfield, Holmfirth and the Colne Valley.
In scenes reminiscent of last year’s Grand Départ, painted bikes, children’s artwork and hundreds of miles of bunting could be seen across Yorkshire weeks ahead of the race. On race day the crowds matched the excitement of the 2014 Tour de France and joint organisers the ASO and Welcome to Yorkshire are already looking ahead to the 2016 race.
Mr Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, added: “Once again we’ve seen staggering crowds provide a rousing welcome for these incredible riders.
“I salute each of the 144 riders in the men’s race and 98 in the women’s, and the 6,000 who took on the sportive. We thank the people of Yorkshire and the riders, the crowds, the Tour Makers, the ASO and our team at Welcome to Yorkshire should be immensely proud of the weekend’s achievements.”
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said: “It was an emotional return to Yorkshire, who did of course put on the grandest of all the grand Départs last year. This was again a special moment, an historic three days and a great advert for cycling and the passion and the heart that Yorkshire has for the sport.”
