ORGANISERS of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire are convinced the race has the capability to become the number one short tour on the international cycling calendar.

The stages for the three-day event, a direct legacy of last summer's spectacularly successful Tour de France Grand Depart in the county, were revealed at a press conference in Bridlington today.

The east coast resort will host the start of the first stage on May 1, while the race - whose route will retrace some sections of that used for the Tour de France – finishes in Leeds on May 3.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome To Yorkshire, said: "Our aspiration for this is clear, and that is to make it the best race of its kind in the world.

"We want to do that quickly and we want to make sure for our kids and my grandkids the race goes on and on – we want to have 100 new chapters for Yorkshire, not just one.

"We said when we did the Tour de France that we wanted to host the grandest ever Grand Depart so that people from around the world would come and ask, 'How did you do that?'

"We want to do that again this race. We want to do it in such a way that people say, 'Look, if you're doing a short bike race, which is the best on the planet?' And we want them to say the Tour de Yorkshire."

After leaving Bridlington, stage one will weave up the east coast towards Scarborough before cutting through Dalby Forest towards Pickering and up over the North Yorkshire Moors to Whitby, from where it will return down the coast to Scarborough.

Stage two, which has been designed with sprinters in mind, will start in Selby and include Beverley and Malton on its itinerary before finishing with a circuit of the city in York, which hosted the start of stage two of the Tour de France.

Stage three from Wakefield will head through Barnsley before reliving the iconic Tour de France sight of a charge up the Haworth cobbles. It will retrace much of the Tour de France route in reverse, taking in Ilkley and Otley, on its way to the finish at Roundhay Park.

The race has been jointly organised by Welcome To Yorkshire and the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which is responsible for the Tour de France.

Tour de France Sports Director Thierry Gouvenou, who designed the race route, said: "Yorkshire offers so much with its huge variety of landscapes.

"For this first edition we have three quite different stages, each with their own challenges and seen as a whole, a very exciting addition to European racing."

Rotherham-born Team Sky sprinter Ben Swift said he is relishing the opportunity of racing in front of his home fans after missing out on the opportunity to take part in last year's Tour de France.

Swift said: "It was disappointing not to make the cut for the Tour de France especially as it was going through roads I trained and grew up on - but the legacy of Tour de Yorkshire is brilliant.

"I had mixed feelings watching the Tour de France on TV - I was tired after a long season so it was nice to sit at home, but it was also hard to watch in the knowledge that I was missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"All this makes up for that a bit. It is a follow-on from how successful cycling has become in Britain and with the level it is coming in at it is just going to be a hit straight away."