THE cycling revolution is continuing to take hold in North Yorkshire following the impact of last year’s Tour de France.

The new Tour de Yorkshire will start in the county at the beginning of May, bringing international competitors with it.

Now the town of Malton will host its second Festival of Cycling on June 21, following the success of a similar event last year.

About 6,000 people and 300 competitors attended the inaugural festival and organisers are hoping this year’s event will promote the town itself, in addition to the racing.

Organisers Keith Davies and Ash Clark said they wanted to put more focus on the town’s businesses getting involved.

“For the first event we really concentrated on the racing as we wanted to get that right and attracted competitors from all over the country,” said Mr Clark.

“This time we want to make more people aware of what is going on. There was such a buzz in town last year that we want to promote that and the town itself.”

Mr Davies said: “There is a real hunger around for cycling in the UK at the moment, particularly with the Tour de Yorkshire now coming to the area and this year we hope to attract three times as many visitors.”

Anyone who would like to get involved or provide sponsorship should email ash@northernride.com or call 01653-699070.