Freshen Up Your Menu

It was a brutal day but that’s the type of weather I like to race in. When I found myself in that three-man group at the end I would have been happy with any of the medals. Because of that I felt I had nothing to lose and luckily my sprint was enough to get the rainbow jersey. My focus all year had been on this race and this victory is going to change a lot for me; I’m no longer going to be regarded as the underdog.

The crowd was crazy today, especially as there were so many people still around to watch us in weather like that. That was so nice to see and I want to thank them for being on the roadside. This was a really good race and when you win one as hard as this, you feel very proud.

It was six and a half hard hours in the saddle and I just didn’t have it at the end today. I gave it my best shot but it wasn’t enough. The fans were incredible and the atmosphere was building and building with every kilometre. They gave me some massive support and I’m incredibly grateful. It’s been a great Championships and great for cycling here in Yorkshire, and the UK.

The 2019 UCI Road World Championships have given the sport a brilliant platform to reach even more people and inspire them to get on their bikes. I’d like to thank Yorkshire 2019, everyone across the county of Yorkshire, and British cycling fans for their contribution to a fantastic event and the warm welcome extended to teams from all over the world.

We had to make some difficult calls regarding the route today because it simply wasn’t suitable to race on some of the roads. We had to think about the safety of the public as well as the athletes because we have a duty of care to them. We’d planned for every eventuality and our team did a fantastic job to change things at such short notice.

It was horrific weather but that didn’t stop the public lining the route. Every village, road and climb was packed so I have to say a massive thank you to the people of Yorkshire for turning out and welcoming the riders today. Congratulations to Mads Pedersen as well, he pulled off a phenomenal win.

It’s been an amazing nine days. Every single race, including our para-cycling event which kicked things off, has been spectacular. It’s taken over three years of planning to reach this point and it’s been a superb team effort. My staff at Yorkshire 2019 have been tremendous, as have our delivery partners, local authorities, emergency service providers, transport providers, utilities providers, volunteers – the list could go on and on. I want to say a massive thank you to them, and to everybody who supported this event.

It’s been a phenomenal nine days in Yorkshire and the whole county as shone even in spite of some of the weather. We’ve seen some truly amazing racing and crowned some incredible world champions. Every race has had a fantastic climax to it and that’s testimony to our variety of terrain as much as it is to the riders themselves. The people and businesses of Yorkshire have done themselves proud, as have our partners, emergency services, highways teams, and of course, our army of tremendous volunteers. Every rider and visitor has received a typically warm welcome, and I’m so proud of that.

The legacy and long-term benefits of hosting these Championships will be felt for many years to come and Yorkshire has definitely gone global over the last nine days. Thank you again to everyone who’s come and enjoyed themselves, and to all the businesses and residents for their support.