SKIPTON is due to find out tomorrow whether it will host either a start or a finish of one of the days of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire cycling event.

It will also be revealed by Welcome to Yorkshire at the ceremony at Leeds Civic Hall if Skipton is to host the women’s race, and whether the town will also be included in one of the routes of the other four days of the event.

The stages for the sixth edition of the TdY - which will take place between Thursday, April 30 and Sunday, May 3 - will either start or finish in Barnsley, Beverley, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leyburn, Redcar and Skipton.

It will be the first time Skipton has played such a pivotal role in the TdY event, although a finish has taken place before, in Settle in 2016, and three previous races have passed through Skipton, along with the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, and the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.

Back in November, when Skipton was announced as a host town, Paul Shevlin, chief executive of Craven District Council, said he was sure that Skipton would do Craven proud and welcome the world-class event in style.

Tomorrow’s ceremony, which will start at 10.30am, will see the unveiling of the full routes and the TdY Women’s Race, there will also be an announcement regarding the Tour de Yorkshire Ride sportive.

Those attending will include James Mason, the new Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive, who replaces Sir Gary Verity, Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, and Dame Sarah Storey, the most successful female British Paralympian of all time.

Skipton being put forward as a host town for the event was narrowly agreed by Craven District Council by just two votes with some members concerned that the brand had been damaged following the controversy surrounding the resignation of former Welcome to Yorkshire Sir Gary Verity.

There were also concerns about the possible cost to the council, which could be up to £180,000, if alternative funding is not secured.