THE White Rose Classic Cycle Sportive will tackle the Yorkshire Dales next summer following some of the same roads as Tour de Yorkshire 2018.

Ilkley Cycling Club has now opened registration its premier cycling sportive. It will cover three routes and over 140 miles of Yorkshire Dales roads and aims to attracts riders looking to experience some of the same challenges as the professional peloton during the annual Tour de Yorkshire.

This is the seventh year in a row that the Ilkley Cycling Club has held the event. It is an all-volunteer effort that provides either a gentle introduction to Dales cycling – Grassington 50 mile Short Route – a challenging adventure onto little-used roads – Settle 84 mile Medium Route – or a full-on epic ride – Hawes 114 mile Long Route. Besides seven named climbs (and innumerable unnamed ones), the ride is fully supported with food and drinks at Grassington, Hawes, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, and Airton.

Scott Blau, volunteer Event Organiser for the White Rose Classic said: "After this year’s fantastic turnout we expect to fill the event again. The limit is 1000 riders and when you count in the friends and family who come to support, that is a big influx for the area. From Ilkley, the riders head down to Otley, and then up over the first hurdle of the day, Norwood Edge on the B6451. From there, all the routes lead north up into the Dales.”

In addition to individual riders, the event has become popular for corporate team-building exercises. This year,Welcome to Yorkshire, Eversheds-Sutherland, and Hammerson, the developer responsible of the Leeds Victory Gate shopping centre fielded teams. Entry is open to anyone over 16 years old on the British Cycling site.

Info on the White Rose Classic can be found at http://whiteroseclassic.org.uk or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/whiteroseclassic2018/. Event entry is available via British Cycling at: http://bit.ly/2fnhGEn.