Yorkshire to host 2019 cycling road world championships

(Reuters) - Britain's Yorkshire region will host the 2019 cycling road world championships while Berlin won the bidding for the 2020 track world championships, the sport's governing body said on Wednesday. The International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement that 11 countries, including Turkey for the first time, had been awarded hosting rights for 15 flagship events across seven cycling disciplines. The announcement was made in Doha, Qatar, which is hosting the first road world championships to be held in the Middle East. UCI president Brian Cookson said the body was committed to expanding the reach of cycling worldwide. Yorkshire hosted the opening stage of the Tour de France in 2014 and has its own three-day stage race, the Tour of Yorkshire. Sakarya, in Turkey, will host the mountain bike marathon world championships in 2020. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin,; Editing by Neville Dalton)