The Yorkshire World Championships will use the original planned route after a bridge on the course was washed away during floods.
North Yorkshire has been battered by extreme weather that caused flooding across the county, damaging roads and buildings.
Grinton Moor Bridge on the men’s world championship road race route was completely destroyed when a surge of water in the stream below washed away the stone structure.
North Yorkshire Country Council reacted quickly to assess the damage and had confirmed that a temporary bridge will be constructed to allow traffic to pass.
The organisers of the Yorkshire World Championships have confirmed that current plans are for the race to be run on the original route.
A spokesperson for Yorkshire 2019 said: “North Yorkshire County Council are working hard to repair the recent damage and we are aiming to retain the race route as previously planned, using the temporary bridge.
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“Should there be any further issues and a diversion is required, it would be minimal and not involve any significant changes to the men elite road race course.”
The latest shot of Grinton Moor Bridge (Picture: Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team)
The bridge collapse after a rush of water hit the structure Tuesday, July 30 causing part of the bridge to collapse before it was completely washed away by the storms.
North Yorkshire County Council has been working to assess the damage and has now confirmed that a temporary road will be built to allow traffic to pass, with the bridge to be repaired at a later date.
Work started on the temporary bridge on Monday, August 5 and the road is expected to be reopen by August 30.
Grinton Moor is one of the key climbs on the 285km-long men’s Worlds road race course, sitting just after the 120km mark.
Heavy rain over the last weekend caused further flooding in the Grinton area, but despite the awful conditions work continued on reopening the C102 from Grinton to Leyburn.
County councillor Done Mackenzie, the executive member for access at North Yorkshire council said: “The progress being made is remarkable. I have nothing but respect for our highways and bridges teams.”
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
