Welcome to Yorkshire has submitted a bid to host the UCI Road World Championships in 2019.

Chief Executive Sir Gary Verity formally presented the application to UCI President Brian Cookson with the ambition of bringing another world-class cycling event to the county.

Welcome to Yorkshire’s bid was compiled in partnership with British Cycling and UK Sport, and the UK Government has guaranteed to underwrite the full cost of the event and back it with £24 million of investment.

The bid features an exciting race programme that will include starts in North, South, East and West Yorkshire, full details of which will be made available if the bid is successful following the UCI’s annual congress in Doha this October.

The bid is the result of months of careful planning, and unrelated to Welcome to Yorkshire’s offer last week to step in and help organise the UEC Road European Championships following Nice’s decision to withdraw from hosting. Those Championships will now take place next month in Brittany.

The UCI Road World Championships is one of the most prestigious events on the professional cycling calendar, with the best male and female riders from around the globe competing for the chance to win the iconic rainbow jersey.

The event takes place over eight days and includes individual and team time trials as well as full road races for Under 18, Under 23 and Elite riders. 

Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive Sir Gary Verity said: “It would be an absolute honour to host the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.

“Yorkshire has everything a bike race could wish for. We can promise a gruelling but spectacular range of routes, huge crowds and the very warmest of welcomes. We are sure the world’s best riders will find our beautiful roads both challenging and exhilarating in equal measure.

“The Tour de France Grand Départ in 2014 cemented the county’s place as a world-class cycling destination and since then I have been proud to oversee the launch and growth of the Tour de Yorkshire – a race which is now regarded as one of the most dramatic and well-supported events in the sport.

“Make no mistake, cycling is in Yorkshire’s DNA and hosting the 2019 UCI Road World Championships will only reaffirm that.

“Yorkshire is ready to embrace the Championships. We’ve turned the county yellow once before, and now we want to see it swathed with those coveted rainbow bands.”