CYCLING’S World Championships visiting the East Riding of Yorkshire will be a “historic moment for the county”.

The area’s council leader Stephen Parnaby has welcomed the news that Beverley is in the running to host the start of some races when the UCI championships in 2019.

Yorkshire won a bid to host the 2019 championships late last year, and earlier this week six towns - Beverley, York, Doncaster, Leeds, Northallerton and Ripon - were revealed as those proposed as start towns.

Cllr Parnaby said: “This is a huge event for Beverley and the East Riding, putting the region on the international stage. It reinforces the East Riding as a great location for cycling and will be a major tourism and economic boost.”

He added: “The UCI Road World Championships attract interest from around the world, with some of the biggest names in cycling participating. It is truly an international event and in recent years has taken place in Melbourne, Australia and Copenhagen in Denmark.

“The championships have a predicted global televised audience in excess of 300 million and offer a fantastic opportunity to promote Yorkshire to a global market. This council will be doing all it can to capitalise on this and encourage visitors to the East Riding.”

Harrogate will be the central event town but the exact routes of the 12 men’s, women’s and junior races over nine days are yet to be revealed.