Former world cycling champion Mark Cavendish, who's set to take part in the Tour de Yorkshire for the first time next May, should be in with a good shout here, according to the BBC's Tanya Arnold:

This morning the four stages of next year's Tour de Yorkshire were announced.

Here they all are together so you can see where the riders will be visiting:

Here's a nice stat for you - next year's race will cover 711km.

And, of those 711 km, 460 of them have never been part of a cycle race like the Tour de Yorkshire before.

Former world cycling champion Mark Cavendish has given his very pithy summary of the trials facing the Tour de Yorkshire 2018 riders as they race through North, South, East and West Yorkshire next May:

Here's how it all looked at the Piece Hall in Halifax as the route for the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire was announced.

According to our reporter there, there were "oohs" as Sir Gary Verity announced each climb in the last stage of the race!:

So that's it, the full route of next year's Tour de Yorkshire has been announced.

Here's an overview of where the action will be happening in May 2018:

If you thought Stage Three was a bit easy on the rider, the fourth and final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire really isn't.

It's the longest stage at 189.5km with a monster six King of the Mountains.

It all starts in Halifax and goes through Hebden Bridge, Skipton, Threshfield, Masham, Otley and Leeds with a grandstand finish on the Headrow.

Ominously, it's known as the "Yorkshire Terrier".

Here's how it looks:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

So, about those hills...

The six climbs are Cote de Hebden Bridge, Cote de Goose Eye, Cote de Barden Moor, Cote de Park Rash (the highest on the tour), Cote de Greenhow Hill and Cote de Otley Chevin.

That's 3,400m of climbs - ouch.

Here's how it looks:

Image source, Tour de France

Sir Gary Verity has said that the finish line on the Headrow will be the same as the start line as the Tour de France in 2014 - outside the art gallery.

Stage Three of the Tour de Yorkshire 2018 is men only and is strictly a North Yorkshire only affair, going from Richmond to Scarborough.

It's a much flatter course and is the second longest of the tour, taking in Morton on Swale - a sprint - Thirsk, Pickering, a climb at Cote de Silpho and through to Scarborough, looping through Filey and Cayton back to Scarborough again.

The theme for this stage is "Yorkshire market towns".

It's a 184km-course and here's how it looks:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

And here's how those (few) climbs look - but the big one on the route is Cote de Sutton Bank, so maybe it's not all plain sailing:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

According to Sir Gary Verity, the man behind the Tour de Yorkshire, the British Army has requested that the tour goes close to Catterick Garrison.

Stage Two of the Tour de Yorkshire 2018 will go from Barnsley to Ilkley and is the shortest stage of the Tour de Yorkshire next year, but includes a punishing climb to the finish line at the Cow and Calf - 249m!

On 4 May, the stage will pass through Swinton, South Elmsall - its first appearance on the tour - Pontefract, Scholes, Otley and Ilkley.

The men will cover 149km and the women 124km - in the second and final stage for them.

Here's the route for the men:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

And the women:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

As we've already mentioned, the finish line for the stage is a strength-sapping 249m climb to the Cow and Calf.

But other climbs include Cote de Blacker Hill and Cote de Old Pool Bank which will reach an altitude of 171m.

Here's how they look:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

Gary Verity said the theme for the stage is "Yorkshire heritage" - it's the first time that Barnsley has been featured as a host town.

So, the Tour de Yorkshire is definitely coming back to the East Riding of Yorkshire in May 2018, it's been confirmed.

For the seaside town of Hornsea, it's the first time the prestigious bike race will be passing through.

It will host the Men's Stage 1 on 3 May next year.

Have a look at the Stage 1 route below:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

The details of the first stage of this year's Tour de Yorkshire have just been revealed at a media conference at the Piece Hall in Halifax.

Stage one will be on 3 May and take in Beverley, Pocklington, Howden, Hatfield (for the first time) and will end in Doncaster.

The men will have 182km in front of them from the start line in Beverley and the women will have 132.5km.

Here's the route for the men:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

And here's the route women will compete on:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

The men are doing an extra loop out of Beverley over to Hornsea and back to Beverley, it is set to be a very flat first day which should be a good start for Cavendish.

Only one real climb to look out for, the Cote de Baggaby Hill.

Here's how it looks on the climbs front:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

So it's all under way...

We've just had a lot of introductions and applause for the big names of cycling who have turned up for the Tour de Yorkshire 2018 route announcements.

Guess who got the biggest cheer?:

Over the next hour, we'll find out exactly where the Tour de Yorkshire will go as the four stages are revealed.

You can watch the whole thing live as it happens at the Piece Hall in Halifax here:

Former world cycling champion Mark Cavendish was on his way to the announcement of the Tour de Yorkshire stage routes a little earlier this morning.

On his way up, looks like Mark got the best seat on the train!

By the way, we'll be bringing you all the latest from the big reveals for the stages after 11:00.

As we wait for the announcements of where exactly the Tour de Yorkshire will be going next year, let's remind ourselves of where it went this year!:

This has to be one of the most touching moments from the racing in last year's Tour de Yorkshire.

The women's race winner Lizzie Deignan tweeted her delight at winning:

As we wait to find out where the Tour de Yorkshire will be going next year, let's have a quick reminder of some of the land art from this year.

It's something that anyone can get involved in and it has been inspired by the art lining the route of the Tour de France each year:

Image source, Welcome to Yorkshire

Image source, Welcome to Yorkshire

Image source, Welcome to Yorkshire

Image source, Getty Images

Who knows what was going on in Tadcaster, but here's a skeleton on a bike with a dog in a basket. Yep...

Today we're going to find out where 2018's Tour de Yorkshire will pass by and through.

We'll find out shortly and don't forget that next year's race will be run over four days instead of three, with eight areas selected to be hosts.

Image source, PA

But before we find out where they'll be going in 2018, here are some of the best pictures from this year's race:

Stay tuned, we'll bring you all the latest as the stage routes are announced.

Image source, PA

Image source, Getty Images

And let's not forget that photo finish at the end of stage one in Scarborough:

Image source, Tour de Yorkshire

Mark Cavendish is set to race in next year's Tour de Yorkshire.

Image source, Getty Images

The route for the four day race in May is due to be revealed in Halifax later this morning.

Cavendish, who has won 30 stages of the Tour de France, won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics last year, and was awarded the MBE in 2011.

He's one of the biggest names to take part in the race which is now in its fourth year.

Amanda White
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

A convoy of giant machinery, needed to build a tunnel under the Humber, is being driven through North Lincolnshire this morning.

It's for new pipelines that will carry gas under the estuary.

The four largest sections of tunnelling equipment will arrive today and tomorrow before being put together.