by Ian Judson
The Tour of Britain cycle race visiting Hornsea has put the town on the map again, its mayor has said.
Crowds lined the streets across the region on Tuesday, September 5, to see some of the world’s top cyclists taking part in the race, which passed through Skipsea before going right through the centre of Hornsea.
Councillor Laura Embleton was among several people who thronged around Market Place, the end of Newbegin and Southgate as some of the biggest names in cycling raced through on Stage Three of the race, from Goole to Beverley.
She said: “I think it’s very important to Hornsea because it gives something to not just the tourists who are coming to watch, but the local people as well, and it helps keep Hornsea on the map as just a wonderful place to visit.”
She agreed that the visit of the Tour de Yorkshire in 2018 had been instrumental in bringing the Tour of Britain to the town, adding: “I’d like to think it’s helped because previously we had the Tour de Yorkshire.
“I think it’s a big feather in the cap for the whole of the East Riding, not just for Hornsea. “In the long term I think it just continues to let people know that we’re here and what we have to offer because they’ll maybe come to see this.
“They might think, we’ll go to a quiet little town and watch it there – and they suddenly realise there are a lot of people watching it here, which is great.
“Then they’ll hopefully come another time to see what else we’ve got, such as the museum, the Mere or Freeport, or use our local shops, because we’ve a lot of brilliant, local independent shops.
“It helps to keep us as a seaside town that welcomes everybody – we’ve always marketed ourselves on that. We are a marvellous seaside town and we welcome all our visitors.
“Yes, we have the people who, once we get to winter, breathe a sigh of relief that they’ve got the town back, but you’ll get that everywhere – and, in order for a town to survive, we have to be adaptable.”
