WIREDGOV

The task of increasing cycling participation really rolls into gear as Yorkshire 2019 ends.

Hot on the wheels of the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire we're helping the competition to leave a lasting impact on cycling in England.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the roads of Yorkshire for the eight-day festival of cycling that saw 11 rainbow jerseys won in front of a global TV audience of more than 250 million.

Building on the legacy left from the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, which includes the now annual Tour de Yorkshire races for both men and women, we're working with British Cycling to allocate £15 million of Government funding.

The biggest government investment into community cycling facilities the country has seen aims to the inspiring performances of the past week into people on bikes.

The ‘Places to RideOpen in a new window’ fund has already led to the creation of the Doncaster Cycle TrackOpen in a new window – a 1km-long, traffic-free circuit that includes a cobbled climb – which played host to the starts of the men’s U-23 and junior women’s road races last week.

And with the fund still open for applications for both small (£1k-50K) and large (£50k-500k) scale grants, our chief executive Tim Hollingsworth hopes the championships can be a catalyst for cycling.

he said:

“Despite the extreme weather conditions over the weekend the excitement, crowded streets and spectacular racing of these world championships have clearly shown that cycling is one of our nation’s most popular sports with the potential to inspire many more people into regular activity,”

“We are determined to turn this inspiration into action.

“That means providing more people with the opportunity to cycle in their communities in a safe and accessible space through the ‘Places to Ride’ scheme and breaking down barriers to entry with partnerships like that of This Girl Can and British Cycling’s HSBC UK Breeze campaign.

“We hope many more people go from watching the TV to riding in their local community after this dramatic sporting spectacle.”

The Doncaster Cycle Track alone is expected to provide 40,000 opportunities to ride during its first year, while Places to Ride has also already introduced virtual cycling technology into 60 care homes across EnglandOpen in a new window.

Click here for the full press release