A FORMER graphic designer and teacher who has produced highly-praised works celebrating the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race has been announced as the event's official artist for the third successive year.

Lucy Pittaway, of Richmond, is producing a series of five bespoke Tour pieces for the 2018 race, having done one official print for the event in each of the previous two years.

This year's Tour, which features four men's race and two women's race stages, starts in Beverley on May 3.

The race's fourth stage, on Sunday, May 6, goes through Skipton, Grassington, Kilnsey and Kettlewell before finishing in Leeds.

Lucy's first commission ‘Hills, Dales and Woolly Tails’ proved hugely popular with cycling fans and art aficionados alike, and the ‘Pedals, Passion and Glory’ piece in 2017 was also a significant success, say organisers.

The prints will be created in Lucy’s signature style, which involves blending soft pastels onto board by hand to create pictures which celebrate cycling and feature the county's countryside and industrial townscapes.

She said: "I hope to create something that will be seen as a unique memento of an incredible race and spectacle in our region, and I am once again incredibly proud to be a little part of the event.”

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Her creations are always a joy to behold – bright, colourful and full of life – and we’re in for a real treat this year with no-less than five specialist pieces being produced."