Images from Mandy Bishop rainbow jersey tour visit to Leeds

ISSUED BY LEEDS CITY COUNCIL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YORKSHIRE2019

Former women's road world champion Mandy Bishop visited Leeds this week to promote the forthcoming UCI Road World Championships. Mandy was in the city to visit Ireland World Primary School and St John’s Catholic School for the Deaf to talk to schoolchildren about the event and to show them her winner's rainbow jersey and gold medal from her success in 1982, which was the last time the UK hosted the event.

Mandy Bishop (née Jones), 1982 UCI Road World Champion, said:

“Becoming world champion was one of the proudest moments of my life and I’m hugely honoured to be sharing my story with schoolchildren across Yorkshire. It’s fantastic that the county is hosting the championships this year as it’s the perfect way to fire people up about cycling and encourage the next generation to give it a go. If we can get more young people out riding bikes for fun, that’s brilliant, and if we inspire a future champion - even better!”

Leeds City Council executive member for environment and active lifestyles Councillor Mohammed Rafique said:

“It was fantastic to see Mandy Bishop visiting schools in Leeds, helping to promote the forthcoming UCI Road World Championships and also inspiring young people in our city with her experiences of not only taking part but winning the event.

“Encouraging children to dream big and be more active, especially girls in Leeds, is really important and the chance to see the world’s best cyclists competing on our roads later this month is sure to be a fantastic occasion.”

Andy Hindley, CEO of Yorkshire 2019, said:

“Excitement for the championships is really building now and we felt the Rainbow Jersey Tour was a great way of getting local schoolchildren involved. Of course, we’d have loved to visit every school in the county, and in lieu of that we’ve created a free, downloadable Education Pack which will allow pupils to become equally engaged, irrespective of their location.

“We’re delighted to have Mandy as our guest of honour and hope that she and her jersey will inspire the next generation of cyclists to follow in her footsteps.”

The UCI Road World Championships Education Pack can be downloaded from: http://Yorkshire2019.co.uk/championships-info/education-pack

About the 2019 UCI Road World Championships:

The UCI Road World Championships have only been held in Great Britain on three previous occasions, the most recent of which was at Goodwood in 1982. The 2019 Championships will take place in Yorkshire between 22-29 September.

The celebrations will begin on Saturday 21 September when - for the very first time - a UCI-sanctioned, one-day international para-cycling event will take place ahead of the Championships. The Yorkshire 2019 Para-Cycling International will act as a qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and welcome entries from every Paralympic road racing classification.

The Championships commence on the Sunday with the maiden Mixed Team Time Trial Relay and the programme continues through to Sunday 29 September with Individual Time Trials and Road Races for Junior (17/18 years), Under 23 and Elite male and female riders.

Approximately 1,400 riders are set to compete from 90 countries and the action will be beamed to a global TV audience of over 250 million.

About the rainbow jersey:

The winner of each Individual Time Trial and Road Race event at the UCI Road World Championships is awarded the rainbow jersey – one of the most iconic prizes in the sport. The world champion has the honour of wearing the rainbow jersey when competing in that same discipline for a whole year up to the subsequent UCI Road World Championships.

The rainbow jersey was first awarded in 1927, the year of the first UCI Road World Championships for professional riders. The design has remained much the same ever since. It is predominantly white with five horizontal bands representing the UCI colours around the chest.

The colours of the stripes (blue, red, black, yellow and green) represent the five continents and are the same as those which appear in the rings on the Olympic flag.

After a world champion’s reign is over, that rider is allowed to wear rainbow piping on the sleeve cuffs and collar of their trade team jersey until the end of their career, as testimony to an exceptional achievement.

For the latest information on Yorkshire 2019, visit https://worlds.yorkshire.com/

ENDS