Ilkley has been announced as one of eight 'host towns' for the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

The announcement was made on the event's Twitter page on Thursday morning.

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of the event's joint organiser Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The Tour de Yorkshire is a true success story and in just three years it has grown to become one of the best attended and most dramatic races on the cycling calendar.

“Of course, with the men’s race being extended to four days and the women’s race now being held over two, it means we can visit more parts of the county and I know our eight start and finish locations will put on a real show.”

The other venues chosen this year are Doncaster, Barnsley, Halifax, Leeds, Beverley, Richmond and Scarborough.

This year's race took place in April and started at Bradford's Centenary Square. A record 2.2 million spectators lined the route and generated £64 million for the Yorkshire economy. The action was also beamed live in 180 countries and attracted 9.7 million global TV viewers on Eurosport and ITV alone.

Full details of next year's route will be announced in December.