2019 Road World Championships: Yorkshire to host first team time trial mixed relay
- Published
Britain's Lizzie Deignan won the 2017 women's Tour de Yorkshire in Harrogate
Men and women will race together for their nations for the first time in the 2019 Road World Championships in Yorkshire.
The team time-trial mixed relay is being introduced as part of a drive to "encourage gender equality".
UCI president David Lappartient said the new event was designed to "increase the attractiveness" of cycling.
The Worlds, including Para-cycling races for the first time, are on 21-29 September.
However, the full Para-cycling Road World Championships will take place the previous week in the Netherlands.
All Road World Championships races will finish in Harrogate.
The new mixed relay race will feature three men and three women competing for national teams.
"We have pledged to deliver an inclusive, innovative and inspiring World Championships," Yorkshire 2019 chairman Chris Pilling said.
"We are therefore enormously excited to be the first host to integrate Para-cycling into the programme."
The races
Saturday, 21 September: Beverley-Tadcaster-Wetherby-Harrogate Circuit - Para-cycling road races (C1 Event)
Sunday, 22 September: Harrogate Circuit - team time trial mixed relay (28km)
Monday, 23 September: Harrogate Circuit - women junior individual time trial (14km) and men junior individual time trial (28km)
Tuesday, 24 September: Ripon to Harrogate - men U-23 individual time trial (32.5km) and women elite individual time trial (32.5km)
Wednesday, 25 September: Northallerton to Harrogate - men elite individual time trial (54km)
Thursday, 26 September: Richmond to Harrogate - men junior road race (144.5km)
Friday, 27 September: Doncaster to Harrogate - women junior road race (91.5km) and men U-23 road race (192.5km)
Saturday, 28 September: Bradford to Harrogate - women elite road race (149.5km)
Sunday, 29 September: Leeds to Harrogate - men elite road race (284.5km)
The team time trial mixed relay will see the men compete a 14km lap around Harrogate with the women's trio setting off on the same circuit once the second rider in the men's team has crossed the line. The final time is taken when the second women's rider crosses the finish line with the overall quickest time winning.
Lappartient added: "The race, a UCI [cycling's governing body] initiative, will replace the trade team time trial and will see men and women competing together for their nation.
"I cannot wait to witness this first-ever race, which is part of the UCI's drive to further increase the attractiveness of our Road World Championships, encourage gender equality, and showcase National Federations and their riders.
"After the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014 and the consequent creation of the legacy Tour de Yorkshire, this magnificent region has left us in no doubt that the World Championships will be a memorable occasion."
That 14km lap around Harrogate, which features an undulating, rather than hilly route, will also provide the finale to the men's and women's elite road races.
The men set off from Leeds and will tackle seven laps of the Harrogate circuit after almost 200km of racing through the Yorkshire Dales, taking in climbs such as Buttertubs and Grinton Moor, which attracted thousands of spectators when the Tour de France passed through the region.
The women's race, which sets off in Bradford, heads north through Nidderdale to Masham before heading back to Harrogate for three laps of the spa town.
"The Championships will be taking place less than a year out from the Olympic Games, with riders seeking to earn precious qualification points for Tokyo 2020. This will add to the excitement of the racing on the roads of Yorkshire," concluded Lappartient.
The elite race routes
Elite men's road race
Elite women's road race
Elite men's time trial
Elite women's time trial
Harrogate circuit
