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04
Sept 2021
Councils have 'dodged hefty bill' with cancellation of Tour de Yorkshire, says councillor
Yorkshire councils have “dodged a hefty bill” with the cancellation of the Tour de Yorkshire 2022, a senior councillor has said.
Cllr Andy Solloway, who sits on North Yorkshire County Council, said he was not surprised the cycling race was cancelled for a third year in a row and that he believes councils would have had to fork out more cash to the organisers if it went ahead.
The county council backed the race with £100,000 and set aside a further £100,000 to underwrite any failure to gain sponsorship.
Co-organisers Welcome to Yorkshire also received the backing of other councils including Craven, Barnsley, Richmondshire, East Riding, and Redcar and Cleveland which agreed to underwrite the event by £100,000 to cover any sponsorship losses.
The extra funding came on top of the £100,000 each council in race start and finish locations had already agreed to.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Solloway said:
Disruption to people
Welcome to Yorkshire said the decision to cancel the event was made due to “financial challenges” and after “lengthy discussions” with co-organiser Amaury Sport Organisation.
Read more:
- 2022 Tour de Yorkshire cancelled
- Could Tour de Yorkshire money be spent on Festival of Yorkshire instead?
The race would have seen a four-day men’s event going from Beverley to Redcar, followed by Skipton to Leyburn, then Barnsley to Huddersfield and Halifax to Leeds.
A two-day women’s race was also planned for the middle two stages.
The cancellation comes after the 2020 and 2021 legs of the event were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Solloway, who is also leader of the Independent group on Craven District Council, added:
'A line had to be drawn somewhere'
Councils which were approached by Welcome to Yorkshire to provide financial support but did not make any decisions included Leeds, Calderdale and Kirklees.
A spokesperson for the organisers said:
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