Public support for cycling and anticipated high crowd turnout were the key factors in Yorkshire securing the right to host the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.
Speaking at the announcement of Yorkshire’s successful bid, UCI president Brian Cookson said that there was “a lot of enthusiasm in Yorkshire and rest of the UK” for cycling.
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He added that the county’s history of successfully hosting major cycling events including the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2014 and the Tour de Yorkshire was also decisive.
“I’m confident we are going to see great, great crowds,” he said.
If that is the case then it will be in stark contrast to the reception the Worlds have received in Doha this week with road side supporters being largely absent from many events.
Cookson said: “Obviously Doha is a new region for cycling; we will make an assessment and appraisal once we’ve had the whole week of events here. I think we are going to have crowds at the circuit finishes [of the men’s and women’s road races] at the weekend.”
Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, was also bullish in his predictions of public support for the Worlds in 2019. “There will be millions again for sure,” he said.
He added that he was not concerned that the controversies over Bradley Wiggins’s Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) to use banned substances before major races and the ongoing anti-doping investigation concerning British Cycling and Team Sky had dampened public interest for the sport.
“I don’t think it will [lessen interest] at all, I was out last week and the roads were lifting with cyclists,” he said.
Yorkshire was awarded the Worlds on Wednesday, seeing off competition from bidders understood to include Colombia, Germany, Italy and Canada.
The Worlds were last held in the UK in 1982 at Goodwood in West Sussex.
Earlier this year Yorkshire missed out on the chance to host the UEC Road European Championships, which were held in Plumelec, France.
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