MARCEL KITTEL, the cyclist who wore the yellow jersey through York during last year's Tour de France, has been confirmed as one of the stars of the first ever Tour de Yorkshire.

The German sprinter, the winner of the first stage of the Grand Depart in Harrogate, will return to the county and join Sir Bradley Wiggins in taking part in the three-stage contest, which takes place from May 1 to 3.

At Welcome to Yorkshire's Y15 conference in Scarborough, the organisation, along with the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), announced the teams that will take on the race from Bridlington to Scarborough, Selby to York and Wakefield to Leeds.

Seven of the teams who raced in the Tour de France are returning to Yorkshire's roads with British cycling fans also able to cheer on Team Sky and the new development outfit Team WIGGINS - led by the 2012 Tour winner and multi-gold winning Olympic athlete.

Kittel's Team Giant-Alpecin will also be joined by BMC Racing Team, Team Lotto NL-Jumbo and IAM Cycling in representing the WorldTeams.

Professional continental teams taking part will be Cofidis Solutions Credits, Team Europcar (who both raced in July 2014), MTN-Qhubeka, Cult Energy Pro Cycling, Roompot Oranje Peloton and Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise.

They will be joined by Team WIGGINS, NFTO, ONE Pro Cycling and Madison Genesis. The GB National Team will also field eight riders. The teams will now decide their eight participants, with the riders announced next month.

A women's race of four 20km laps of a York circuit will also be held on day two of the contest with Dame Sarah Storey, one of Britain's most decorated Paralympians, confirming she will ride. Storey has won 11 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals across six Paralympic Games.

Her team, Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International, will be racing in the event.

Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said: “We will be glad to return to Yorkshire after the huge success of the Tour de France 2014 Grand Départ, the grandest ever. The first ever Tour de Yorkshire will be another occasion to showcase the outstanding landscapes of the county, especially of the coast which we didn’t visit last year with Le Tour.

"Tour de Yorkshire will be a great opportunity to review young talents among British riders and enable them to ride with top Tour de France professional teams and cycling stars like Sir Bradley Wiggins and Marcel Kittel.”

Gary Verity, Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive, said; “Today is a landmark moment for Yorkshire and it is a credit to every single person who played a role in the Grand Départ - whether they were a spectator, a rider, a Tour Maker – that we have attracted such a high calibre of teams to this first edition of our new race.

"The start and finish towns for the Tour de Yorkshire and everybody who has already picked out where they will watch on the day, and now, every member of these teams, will experience one of the greatest sports events in the UK in 2015.”