NORTH Yorkshire looks set to feature on the route of a new three-day cycle race as part of the Tour de France legacy.

Parts of the coast including Scarborough, which do not feature on the route of this year’s TdF could feature in the race, provisionally known as the Tour of Yorkshire.

It’s understood that the bid to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) put together by Welcome to Yorkshire and Tour de France organisers Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), together with the support of British Cycling, would see a world class race come to Yorkshire.

If approved, the race would take place over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend of May 1-3 from next year for five years.

The deal is the first direct consequence of the staging of the Grand Depart in York this weekend.

Gary Verity, the man credited with bringing the TdF to Yorkshire, said: “The Tour of Yorkshire will reach parts of the county we have not been to before.

“It will be a different route every year and we will also incorporate a women’s race into it.

“We want Yorkshire to be the capital of European cycling.”

Having the Grand Depart here this weekend is only the beginning.

“When we bid to host the Tour de France we did so in the knowledge that this would be the start of a long relationship with ASO.”

Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France, said: “It seems perfectly natural for Welcome to Yorkshire, British Cycling and ASO to continue working together in this new land of cycling, through the Tour of Yorkshire.”