A SPORTIVE ride for 5,000 cyclists is to be held as part of the World Road Cycling Championships celebrations.

There will be three routes - long 145km; medium 98km and short 72km, suiting all abilities and experience on Sunday, September 22.

Organisers say it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the historical event and cycle the same roads as the professionals as they compete for the prestigious Rainbow Jersey.

All routes will ride the Harrogate circuit before any of the pros. The maiden Mixed Relay Team Time Trial will follow on from the sportive, also departing from Harrogate, ensuring the sportive will get the classic Yorkshire welcome and support.

On finishing every participant will get a medal and then they can sit back and enjoy the atmosphere of the 2019 UCI World Championships.

Because of an expected huge demand, a ballot ticketing system will be used for the event.

Cyclists wanting to be involved will be asked to log their interest via the website (https://worlds.yorkshire.com/sportive/) on March 4 with the ticket allocation happening on March 20.

Nick Rusling, CEO of organisers Human Race, said: “The UK’s reputation for cycling has grown and grown and nothing says it better than the UCI World Championships.

“We are really excited to be able to offer this once in a lifetime event to the cycling world. We always strive to offer memorable and unique experiences here at Human Race and it doesn’t get much more unique than this.”

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire this year will be one of those ‘where were you when’ moments so to be one of the 5,000 amateur cyclists taking part in the official sportive, riding on the same roads as the professionals, in front of massive crowds will be will be an unforgettable experience!”