Tour de Yorkshire sportive: route, timings and where to park

The fifth edition of the now annual race will see riders race through 150 villages, towns and cities, between Thursday 2 and Sunday 5 May, with the men and women covering 617.5km (384 miles) and 264km (164 miles) respectively.

While many will be heading out to various locations around Yorkshire to watch the race in action, others are taking a more practical approach and getting involved in the cycling themselves.

The Tour de Yorkshire Ride

The Tour de Yorkshire Ride offers a chance for amateur cyclists to take on the challenge of some of the same roads the professionals will be tackling as part of the Tour de Yorkshire race.

This year, the sportive gives riders a choice of three distances to tackle, each of which will end of the pro finish line where the crowds will be waiting to cheer on their support.

The three distances are:

- The long route - 123km

- The medium route - 79km

- The short route - 50km

The long route heads out towards Harrogate and on to Ripon, before riders turn south and head back towards Leeds city centre.

En route are a couple of challenging climbs, including the Cote de Greenhow Hill and the Cote de Otley Chevin, along with a sprint section at Tinshill before the final run to the finish.

Riders tackling the medium route will miss the first climb to make for a slightly easier ride, and those on the short route can enjoy the least strenuous ride of the day.

When is the Tour de Yorkshire Ride?

The Tour de Yorkshire Ride will take place on Sunday 5 May.

What are the timings for each race?

The start times for each of the three distances are as follows:

- The long route - 6.30am

- The medium route - 8.10am

- The short route - 9.00am

Riders are advised to arrive at least 60 minutes prior to their start time in order to take their place on the start line.

Riders' individual start times can be viewed on the Tour de Yorkshire website.

Where to park

As the start and finish is in the city centre, there is not an event car park and there is no single location where all participants can park.

Riders are encouraged to share cars to get to the start on the morning of the event and consider drop offs or cycle to the venue where possible.

The Event Village will be located on Monument Moor (nearest postcode LS6 2NU).