THE TOUR de Yorkshire brought £50 million into the county in its first year, new figures show.

Welcome to Yorkshire has revealed that the economic benefit was £50 million as fans spent on accommodation and food and drink while they were in the county.

Welcome to Yorkshire boss Sir Gary Verity said: “These are tremendous figures for the first edition of the Tour de Yorkshire.

"To generate £50million on race weekend and attract many visitors to the county just demonstrates how popular cycle racing in Yorkshire has become and how valuable hosting the races is to our regional economy."

The next race will take place between Friday, April 29 and Sunday, May 1.

Sir Gary added: “Preparations for next year’s race are coming on well and we can’t wait to announce the full route on 9th December. The race will be a fantastic event for spectators and will be one that the best riders in the world want to compete in.”

Independent research has shown that over race weekend (1-3 May 2015) spectators spent £20.5 million on accommodation and £29.5 million on non-accommodation items such as food and drink, souvenirs and transport.

Some 1.5 million spectators lined the roads over the three day race, with many watching more than one stage. In total the race attracted 1 million unique spectators.

>>> FLASHBACK: Tour de Yorkshire 2015 in York

In addition to attending the race, 60% of spectators were inspired to cycle more frequently, and 98% of residents from the host towns felt that the race had been positive for their local area.

The majority of race spectators were Yorkshire residents (72.5%), with just over a fifth from elsewhere in the UK (20.5%) and 0.3% from abroad.

Planning is well underway for the 2016 edition of the race, which will see a new route through different parts of Yorkshire, part of the race’s remit to showcase the entire county.

The host towns for 2016 are Middlesbrough, Settle, Scarborough, Beverley, Otley and Doncaster. The full route of the 2016 race will be unveiled on 9 December.

The research results have been calculated from a survey conducted by independent research agency GRASP, involving 1,500 respondents who answered questions in person and online. Data was analysed by Leeds Beckett University.