Tuesday 19th April 2016 Meet Your Cycling Heroes: Tour de Yorkshire ambassadors & caravan unveiled Spectators will be able to get up close and personal with some of the world’s most legendary cyclists at this year’s Tour de Yorkshire. Race ambassadors will visit key points on the route before the racing starts to pose for pictures, sign autographs and gear the huge crowds up for the race, which starts on Friday 29th April in Beverley. Brian Robinson, the first Briton to win a stage of the Tour de France, will be joined by one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful cyclists of all time, Sheffield’s Malcolm Elliott, Wakefield’s Barry Hoban, who won eight stages of the Tour de France between 1967 and 1975, Denise Burton Cole, world class rider and daughter of the legendary Morley cyclist Beryl Burton, and Bernard Hinault, the five-time winner of the Tour de France. They will be driven in cars supplied by Yorkshire-based company JCT600 – the official car supplier of the Tour de Yorkshire – and accompanied by a vintage Bradford-built Jowett Jupiter car. They will be following the much-anticipated publicity caravan, which will set off two hours before the racing starts and will also stop at other key points along the route to give away gifts and free samples. Taking part in the caravan this year is Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries, the Tour Down Under, the RNLI, Lucy Pittaway, the official artist of the Tour de Yorkshire, Mug Shot and Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Flybe. Asda and Aunt Bessie’s will also take part on Stage Two. Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “The publicity caravan features some of the best-loved brands in Yorkshire, as well as the official Tour de Yorkshire artist and charity, and will provide a welcome and exciting new addition to the race. “Spectators will also get the chance to meet some of the best cyclists the world has ever seen thanks to our wonderful race ambassadors who will help to make this year’s Tour de Yorkshire unforgettable.” The approximate timings for the publicity caravan are: Stage one: Beverley start (10am), Market Weighton Market Place (10:45am), Leeds Road, Tadcaster, opposite the Heineken Brewery, (12pm), North Street, Wetherby (12:20pm), A59, Knaresborough (12:40pm), Main Street, Ripley (12:50pm), Street Lane, Pateley Bridge (1:15pm) and then on to the finish line in Settle. Stage two: Otley town centre start (12:30pm), Cote de Rigton Bank summit (12:55pm), Lotherton Lane, near Lotherton Hall (1.20pm), Lumby Hill, Monk Fryston (1:30pm), Pontefract Southgate (1:55pm), Wentbridge House Hotel (2:05pm), Conisbrough Castle (2:45pm), Asda, Harworth (3:10pm), Bawtry High Street (3.20pm) and on to the finish in Doncaster. Stage three: Middlesbrough Centre Square (9:10am), Stokesley High Street (10:10am), Northallerton High Street (10:55am), Thirsk market place (11:20am), Cote de Sutton Bank summit (11:30am), Helmsley market square (11:30am), A170, Kirkbymoorside (11:45am), New Quay Road, Whitby (1:10pm), and then on to Scarborough South Bay and the finish line. The approximate timings for the race ambassadors are: Stage one: Bubwith sprint (11:10am), Cote de Greenhow Hill summit (1:25pm), Grassington, Main Street and Wood Lane junction (1:55pm), Gargrave, High Street and Pennine Way junction (2:20pm), Hellifield, Black Horse Hotel (2:40pm), Giggleswick sprint (3:10pm), and Settle finish (3:25pm). Stage two: Barwick in Elmet maypole (1:30pm), Knottingley Social Club and spectator hub (2:25pm), South Elmsall, Doncaster Road and High Street junction (3:05pm), Sprotbrough, Cadeby Road and Boat Lane junction, (3:40pm), Tickhill Market Cross/Buttercross (4:15pm), and Doncaster finish (5pm). Stage three: Great Ayton, Captain Cook statue (9:50am), Hutton Rudby village green (10:15am), Hutton le Hole, Ryedale Folk Museum (12:20pm), Castleton, Station Road and High Street junction (12:55pm), Cote de Grosmont summit (1:30pm), East Ayton, Walkers Fish Restaurant (3:00pm), Cote de Oliver’s Mount summit (3:30pm) and Scarborough finish (3:50pm). Notes for editors: Tour de Yorkshire is a Welcome to Yorkshire (WTY) / Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) race in association with British Cycling which holds a 2.1 European Tour UCI Classification. The Tour de Yorkshire is an annual international race with a new route through Yorkshire each year. It forms part of the legacy of the historic Yorkshire Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2014, along with the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries which aim to offer every child in Yorkshire access to a bike. For more information contact: Hannah Bryan – Press Officer, Welcome to Yorkshire Email: [email protected] Phone: 0113 322 3578 Mobile: 07581 575 220 .