The Tour de Yorkshire has been cancelled for the third time, with the 2022 race not taking place due to financial difficulties.

The four-day men's and two-day women's stage race was scheduled to take place around April and May of 2022, but has already been removed from the 2020 and 2021 calendars and will not appear on the UCI race calendar.

Previously, the event was organized by the tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, along with ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France.

"Our team has been working for seven years to make this event a true landmark in cycling's spring season after five editions," said Jan Le Morner, CEO of ASO.

"After two consecutive cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, as well as economic factors and a number of factors arising from this, it was decided by mutual agreement that the Tour de Yorkshire would not take place in 2022.

"In any case, the Tour de France and the A.S.O. will remain close to Yorkshire due to the success of the wonderful Grand Depart and the five Tour de Yorkshire events in 2014.

After the cancellation of the 2021 event, organizers said they were committed to bringing back the race in 2020, "bigger and better" than ever. However, in this third cancellation, no mention was made of whether the race would return in 2023 or not at all

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The race was one of many events canceled or postponed in 2020 when the cycling season was suspended. When the season resumed and other events were rescheduled, the decision was made in November 2020 to cancel the 2021 event as well. At the time, Welcome to Yorkshire stated that it did not want to commit resources to an event it was not sure about.

Other British cycling events faced cancellation in 2020 and postponement earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but racing resumed with the Tour of Britain taking place from September 5-12 and the Women's Tour from October 4-9.

Tour de Yorkshire organizers have continued to consider bringing the race back to Yorkshire as soon as it is deemed safe and feasible, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with mounting financial challenges and uncertainties, will make it unworkable in 2022 He stated that he believes it will not be feasible by 2022.

"The news of the Tour de Yorkshire will be disappointing to many, but it is important for Welcome to Yorkshire to focus on the impending event and not, like the acclaimed "Waukesha" in 2021, to focus on the entire county every day of the year on We will continue to plan future annual campaigns that will promote the entire state of Yorkshire," said Peter Box, president of Welcome to Yorkshire.

"The last 18 months have been a turbulent time for many businesses and the tourism industry, with financial constraints that must be addressed and considered in all decision-making processes.

The Tour de Yorkshire, which began in 2015 as a follow-up to the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ with two stages held in this region of northern England, has been described by organizers in the past as an incredible success, with 2.6 million roadside spectators, and in 2019 it is estimated to attract 28 million potential television viewers across 190 countries.

"This is obviously very disappointing news for everyone who recognizes the value the Tour de Yorkshire brings to Yorkshire and British cycling," British Cycling chief executive Brian Facer said. [This is not just about the economic boost that top-level bike racing has brought to Yorkshire, but also about the huge numbers of people who have become cyclists.

"Yorkshire's local authorities have done an excellent job in recent years and deserve credit for trying to find a way forward. We will continue to work with Welcome to Yorkshire and A.S.O. To ensure future major cycling events."

The men's event started in 2015 as a three-stage event and expanded to four days in 2018, while the women's started as a one-day race and expanded to two days.

Lars Petter Nordhaug (Team Sky) won the inaugural men's Tour de Yorkshire, Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Greg Van Avermaat (BMC Racing), Chris Lawless (Team Ineos) followed.

The first women's race was won by Louise Mahe (Ikon Mazda), with Kirsten Wild (High Tech Products) and Lizzie Deignan (Boels Dolmans) winning the one-day event. in the first stage race edition held in 2018, Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans) won, and Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) won the previous edition.