Tour de Yorkshire 2016 – Stage 2 – Van Poppel Triumphs

©CyclingShorts.cc / Craig Zadoroznyj

Words Anna Magrath – Images Chris Maher & Craig Zadoroznyj

With many technical gremlins blighting day two of racing, both the men and women’s events being without TV coverage we all took to race radio and Twitter for updates, the media were as much in the dark as the public.

After the womens race it was then back to Otley for the men’s race which took the same route, flowing up through crowd lined routes in Thorner and Aberford and then onto Sherburn in Elmet where thousands of locals filled the centre.
There was more excitement in South Milford, Monk Fryston and Hillam, through to Pontefract and past Wentbridge House Hotel where a bride and groom and wedding guests came out to cheer on the peloton as it raced past.
And the crowds continued for both races through Sprotbrough and Cote de Conisbrough Castle, then Tickhill and Bawtry before riders headed for the finish at a heaving Doncaster.

©CyclingShorts.cc / www.chrismaher.co.uk

Over the first two climbs Richard Handley of OnePro Cycling group managed to stay away and and he mopped up the mountain points protecting the lead of his team mate Pete William’s in the KoM jersey for OnePro Cycling.

 

The breakaway of 6 riders; Richard Handley – , Lewis – , Bradbury & Edmondson of , Steels of Topsport SV and Morkov if  held a lead of around 1-2 minutes, they group was joined by  Edet  but it wasn’t to last. The lead group fragmented and only 4 riders survived (Michael Markov, Josh Edmondson, Nico Edet, Stijn Steels) before being swollowed by a peloton sprint finish.

The winner of the stage was Danny van Poppel from Team Sky winning by a whisker.

PhotoFinishTdY2

 

Tour de Yorkshire Stage 1 – Four Seasons in One Race Day

All images ©CyclingShorts.cc / Craig Zadoroznyj

Words by Anna Magrath

 

Stage details:
Start: Beverley
Finish: Settle
187km in length

Victory for the sprinters!

The unpredictable weather didn’t put a dampener on the first stage of the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire. The tough day culminated in a crowd pleasing sprint finish on the streets of Settle in glorious sunshine.

Olympian Rebecca Romero waved the riders off in Beverley town centre for the processional start, as the riders were finding their legs there was a pile up mid peloton, a Team Katusha rider face planting on a cattle grid with a tangle of riders on top of him, all but the the rider in red Sven Erik Bystrom made it back up.

The race proper got underway at Beverley Racecourse on the outskirts of the town. The attack came quickly, after his less than successful social media week Pete Kennaugh decided to redeem himself by taking it upon himself to push hard on the front for Team Sky to try to reel the six riders in (Pete Williams OneProCycling, Graham Briggs JLT Condor, Nils Pollit Katusha Cycling, Matt Cronshaw Madison Genesis, Jens Wallays Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise, Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC) escaping down the road and taking a good 1 minute 30 seconds out of the peloton without too much effort. The bunch let them yo-yo for the majority of the race with the group taking a 5 minute lead. They mopped up the first sprint points and the Kom’s with Skipton rider Williams taking the King of the Mountain maximum points and Mora winning the sprint.

Pete Williams had no intention of giving up the fight and after being caught he still tried to fight back but to no avail.

The route took riders through the Wolds, snaking through a sea of yellow and blue decorations to Tadcaster and into the Yorkshire Dales for an exciting finish in Settle. Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands, riding with Lotto NL Jumbo, took the win.

Just like for the Tour de France in 2014 and the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in 2015, Yorkshire truly embraced the spirit of cycling, with towns and villages decked out in banners, bunting and bikes with crowds roaring as the peloton whizzed past.

On their way the riders passed many of the amazing land art installations created by local communities with designs at the top of the Cote de Greenhow Hill and Kelfield.

Action started to hot up at 15km to go, as One Pro Cycling, Orica GreenEdge and Team Sky began to mobilise their sprint trains but not long after, two French riders attacked; Turgis and Voeckler made a perfectly timed break to escape from the bunch. Aided by a tailwind, the French held their gap before British rider Steve Cummings caught the pair, breaking away on his own at 3km to go attempting to time trial to the finish. Cummings extended his gap on the final run into Settle before sitting up and being swallowed by the pack.

From there the technical finish created a fast paced sprint, with Lotto NL Jumbo placing Groenewegen well for the win with Orica GreenEdge’s Caleb Ewan narrowly missing first.

PhotoFinishSprint

Sir Gary Verity congratulated winner Dylan Groenewegen and praised the people of Yorkshire for their support for the race. He said: “Wow what a day for Yorkshire! The way that thousands of people came out to support the Tour de Yorkshire was just incredible. It is testament to true Yorkshire grit that the weather failed to dampen the spirits of the crowds with people of all ages – from school children to the elderly – cheering on the riders throughout the entire race. It was moving to see.

“The atmosphere at the start in Beverley was just electric and the excitement and energy continued throughout the communities lining the route all the way to the magnificent crowd at the finish in Settle. Yorkshire you should be proud! We promised to deliver a terrific event and the people of the county have helped us do just that. We can’t wait for another two days of exhilarating racing ahead”

Tomorrow’s stage marks an important landmark for women’s racing as world champion Lizzie Armitstead will line up on the start line in her home town for the Asda Women’s Tour de Yorkshire, alongside Great Britain teammate Emma Pooley, as well as Rio hopeful Dani King. One of the world’s top sprinters Kirsten Wild will also join a host of top flight international and domestic riders including our very own Team Jadan-Weldtite (Yorkshire based team) for the race which takes place over the exact same course as the men’s, is fully televised and at the time of racing has the largest prize pot in the world of any women’s race.

 

Top 10:
1 – Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo

2 – Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge

3 – Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin

4 – Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie

5 – Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky

6 – Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team

7 – Christopher Lawless (GBr) JLT Condor

8 – Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling

9 – Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling

10 – Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise

For all race information, results & images visit www.letouryorkshire.com

Pre Tour de Yorkshire Press Conference

 

L-R: Christian Prudhomme, Lucy Garner, Caleb Ewan, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Dani King & Sir Gary Verity.

L-R: Christian Prudhomme, Lucy Garner, Caleb Ewan, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Dani King & Sir Gary Verity.

 

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Saturday the Men’s and Women’s Stages of Champions take place.

Pre Race Press Conference for the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire

28 April 2016

Anthony McCrossan welcomes the press on the eve of the Tour de Yorkshire 2016 at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, before introducing Welcome to Yorkshire CEO Sir Gary Verity and A.S.O. Director of Cycling Christian Prudhomme.

Joining them on stage, last years defending champion, winning from start to finish, Lars-Petter Nordhaug of Team Sky and Orica Green-EDGE’s sensational young sprinter Caleb Ewan, making his debut, Olympic Champion, World Champion and European Champion Wiggle High5’s Dani King, and twice Junior World Champion Lucy Garner as the Tour readies itself for the second edition, 29th April to 01st May.

Pre Race Press Conference for the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire

28 April 2016

Anthony McCrossan welcomes the press on the eve of the Tour de Yorkshire 2016 at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, before introducing Welcome to Yorkshire CEO Sir Gary Verity and A.S.O. Director of Cycling Christian Prudhomme.

Joining them on stage, last years defending champion, winning from start to finish, Lars-Petter Nordhaug of Team Sky and Orica Green-EDGE’s sensational young sprinter Caleb Ewan, making his debut, Olympic Champion, World Champion and European Champion Wiggle High5’s Dani King, and twice Junior World Champion Lucy Garner as the Tour readies itself for the second edition, 29th April to 01st May.

Anthony McCrossan: “This evening the Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour Down Under will sign an agreement to promote each other races across each others territories.”

Sir Gary Verity: The significance of stage two. “Linking Otley, near Leeds, home to our latest world champion Lizzie Armitstead with Doncaster where we pass through Harworth, just to the south, the home of Tom Simpson, our first world Champion.”

“One of the big changes from this year to last is the revolution in women’s cycling.”

 

 

Christian Prudhomme applauds 2015 Winner, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Team Sky.

Christian Prudhomme applauds 2015 Winner, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Team Sky.

Christian Prudhomme: “The passion that people from Yorkshire have for cycling is just unbelievable. Huge crowds we saw for the Tour de France! One year after, we thought impossible to have the same for the first edition of the Tour de Yorkshire. But yes, huge crowds again.”

“The second edition of the Tour de Yorkshire is one step forward again. On Saturday we have women and men the same distance, the same media coverage. We don’t know today what Saturday will mean for the future of cycling.”   

Lars-Petter Nordhaug: “We hope to win. We are the biggest team here. We really want to make the race.”

Sir Gary Verity welcomes Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEDGE) to the Tour de Yorkshire.

Sir Gary Verity welcomes Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEDGE) to the Tour de Yorkshire.

Caleb Ewan: “I don’t really know how my form is now.” Coming out of a block of training. “I’ve not raced for six weeks.” Calab is hoping to improve towards the end of the race. Although the first stage is billed as a sprinters stage. “It’s not a straight forward sprint as I thought it would be”. Referring to the un-categorised climb on the Settle finish loop!

Dani King: Saturday’s Asda Women’s Race. “I’m really excited to ride here in Yorkshire, we did a reccy today and there were school kids on the side of the road screaming to cheer us.” “I feel proud that Britain is leading the way with the same media coverage.” “It’s amazing the step forward for women’s cycling and I think it’s only going to go further after this race.”

Lucy Garner: Billed also as a sprint finish for the women’s race. “It’s not flat! It’s definitely rolling. I think the weathers going to play a roll in the race, setting off early in the morning”.

 

 

 

Spectacular route for Tour de Yorkshire 2016

Le Tour Yorkshire 2014 - York to SheffieldThe Tour de Yorkshire, one of the most spectacular and well received events in the British sporting calendar, returns for a second year with new routes and new challenges.  The huge crowds will be entertained by Race Ambassadors and a Tour de Yorkshire Caravan which will visit key points on the route before the race starts.

 

The route will take the 18 teams of eight riders to all four corners of Yorkshire, linking together the county’s sporting, historic, industrial and literary greats.

 

Stage One begins in Beverley, home to one of England’s finest Minsters, before the peloton races to Tadcaster and on to Knaresborough which was the scene of some of the biggest crowds for the Tour de France in 2014.  Taking in some of the Grand Depart 2014 route, a series of climbs takes the riders past Brimham Rocks before a finish in Settle.

 

On Stage Two, men and women will face exactly the same stage which starts in Otley, home of the current women’s road World Champion Lizzie Armitstead.  From Otley riders travel south, on roads not raced on in the Tour de France or Tour de Yorkshire, towards Conisbrough Castle and on to Doncaster.

 

Tour De Yorkshire 2015 | Scarborough to Bridlington - Stage 1

Tour De Yorkshire 2015 | Scarborough to Bridlington – Stage 1 ©www.chrismaher.co.uk / CyclingShorts.cc

Stage Three will be familiar to those who raced in 2015, starting in Captain James Cook’s home town of Middlesbrough, then into Herriot Country before tackling the infamous Sutton Bank, the first of six King of the Mountain points in just one stage.  Riders then head over the North York Moors and down towards Scarborough for what promises to be a thrilling finale and a race to the very end.

 

Riders joined host towns at a launch event in Otley, where Welcome to Yorkshire’s Sir Gary Verity and A.S.O.’s Christian Prudhomme unveiled the full route.

 

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said:

“For next year’s race we’ve selected routes which showcase Yorkshire’s stunning scenery and will also deliver an excellent sporting event. Our first race was phenomenally successful, bringing 1.5 million spectators to the roadside, generating over £50million for the regional economy and being broadcast around the world – not many races can say that.  The stages we’ve revealed today are eagerly anticipated by fans, riders and teams and we have all the ingredients for another spectacular race which will bring the crowds back out.”

 

Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France, said:

“I am always happy to be back in Yorkshire and today marks an important milestone for the race. Feedback from teams and riders last year was excellent and this year we have three stages which together create a race right to the end; the final King of the Mountain points are barely six kilometres from the final finish line.”

 

In addition to the professional races, the Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride will give amateur cyclists the chance to ride many of the roads ridden by the pros in a newly designed sportive route, which will start and finish in Scarborough on Sunday 1 May.  The sportive route will follow parts of Stage 3 of the men’s race whilst also taking in several alternative roads to allow for all 6000 participants to finish in their own time.

 

A highlight of the sportive will see amateur riders finishing with a 1km sea-front sprint finish and crossing the very same finish line as the professional riders with the same support from the waiting crowds. There will be three distances for riders to choose from; 40km, 85km and 115km.  The sportive sold out in a matter of hours in 2015 and those hoping to secure a place in the 2016 ride can register their interest and be first to hear when this year’s event opens at letouryorkshire.com/sportive

 

Returning sponsors for the men’s race have also been confirmed, with Yorkshire Bank sponsoring the Sprint Jersey; Dimension Data sponsoring the Digital Vote / Most Aggressive Rider Jersey; and Mavic returning as the Official Supplier.   Yorkshire Bank also sponsor the Tour de France legacy project – the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries – which have already helped over a thousand children in Yorkshire ride a bike for free.

 

Tour de Yorkshire on Twitter

So, here you have it, your full 2016 route for @letouryorkshire. It’s going to be epic. #TDYpic.twitter.com/y7sjftv5FO

 

Detailed stage profiles

 

Stage 1: Friday 29 April 2016: Beverley to Settle

  • Total stage length: 184km
  • 2 x sprint points (Bubwith, Giggleswick)
  • 1 x King of the Mountain (Greenhow Hill)
  • Total ascent: 1832m

 

The first stage will set off from Saturday Market in Beverley. The riders will parade around the town – which also played host to the race in 2015, then through North Bar before heading north west to the Official Start at Beverley Racecourse; Holme on the Wolds, Market Weighton (which also saw the race pass through in May 2015), and on westwards to a sprint point at Bubwith.  From there, the peloton will race through North Duffield and west to Cawood – scene of Dick Turpin’s famous escape from York – and on to Tadcaster, famous for its breweries.  After that, riders will visit Boston Spa, Wetherby, North Deighton and Knaresborough, home of the famous ‘spotty house’ from the Tour de France, decorated with the red spots of the King of the Mountains’ jersey.  From there riders will travel to Ripley, home of the UK’s only Hotel du Ville rather than Town Hall, and on to Pateley Bridge where the first King of the Mountain will be won at Greenhow Hill.  After that, it’s on to Grassington, then Threshfield and a return to some of the Tour de France roads, through Cracoe then Gargrave, the riders will then cross the finish line in Settle for the first time before a sprint at Giggleswick.  They will complete a 12km loop back to the A65 and round to Settle town centre for an expected bunch finish in the town.

 

Stage 2: Saturday 30 April 2016: Otley to Doncaster

  • Total stage length: 135.5km
  • Same route for men and women
  • 2 x sprint points (Scholes, Warmsworth)
  • 3 x King/ Queen of the Mountain (Harewood Bank, East Rigton, Conisbrough Castle)
  • Total ascent: 1110m

 

Stage Two marks an important milestone for the Tour de Yorkshire, as the women’s race will be held on exactly the same route as the men’s race.  The women’s race will start in the morning and the men’s race will begin in the early afternoon. Full details of the women’s race will be released in the following weeks.

 

Anna on Twitter

The Women’s Tour de Yorkshire race will be a full stage race, on 30 April, using the same course as Stage 2 #TDYpic.twitter.com/MKmgVL7Dw4

 

The route begins in Otley, home town of current women’s road World Champion Lizzie Armitstead.  The Official Start is at Pool-in-Wharfedale, before the riders face an early King/ Queen of the Mountain challenge at Harewood Bank, before heading south east towards another King/ Queen of the Mountain at East Rigton, then to Thorner and a sprint at Scholes, then to Barwick in Elmet crossing the A1 at Aberford.  Riders then go past Lotherton Hall, into Sherburn in Elmet, down to South Milford and Monk Fryston before swinging south to Birkin and Beal.  The route then heads through Kellingley and on to Knottingley, Pontefract (home of liquorice) and Wentbridge, before North and South Elmsall, and on to hidden gem Hooton Pagnell.  There is a sprint point at Warmsworth before a lap of, and King/ Queen of the Mountain, at 11th century Conisbrough Castle.  The peloton will then head towards Tickhill and Bawtry before racing along the perimeter of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, past Doncaster Racecourse and onto a sprint finish on South Parade.

 

Stage 3: Sunday 1 May 2016: Middlesbrough to Scarborough

  • Total stage length: 196km
  • 2 x sprint points (Thirsk and Whitby Abbey)
  • 6 x King of the Mountain (Sutton Bank, Blakey Ridge, Grosmont, Robin Hood’s Bay, Harwood Dale and Oliver’s Mount)
  • Total ascent: 2593m

 

If Stages One and Two are for the sprinters, Stage Three will certainly appeal to the climbers.  With an elevation of 2593 meters and six King of the Mountain classifications, the route begins in Middlesbrough, birth place of Captain James Cook, and takes the riders on a challenging and technical route through much of the stunning North York Moors National Park. From the start line at Middlesbrough’s MIMA Gallery, they travel south over the Official Start on the outskirts of Nunthorpe on the A172, through Great Ayton, home of the Captain Cook School Room, and on to Stokesley, Hutton Rudby, Winton and down to Northallerton, the county town of North Yorkshire.  From there, the riders head to Thirsk’s market square where there will be a sprint point, before the infamous Sutton Bank and a King of the Mountain.  Onwards to Helmsley, winner of Britain’s Best Market Town, then to Kirkbymoorside and heading north to Hutton le Hole and a King of the Mountain at Blakey Ridge.  The peloton will recognise Castleton and many of the villages towards Whitby as the route is similar to that for the 2015 race.  There will be a King of the Mountain at Grosmont, where in 2015 riders were welcomed by a steam salute by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and riders will pass through Sleights and Ruswarp before dipping down to Whitby.  There is a sprint point at Whitby Abbey, before the race makes a visit to Hawkser. Next up is a battle over a King of the Mountain at Robin Hood’s Bay, before another King of the Mountain at Harwood Dale.  From there it’s full speed to East Ayton and Irton, before a final King of the Mountain at Oliver’s Mount and a sprint finish in Scarborough’s North Bay.

 

Tour de Yorkshire on Twitter

We’re also excited that for the 2016 @letouryorkshire, there will be a Publicity Caravan running ahead of the cyclists. #TDY

 

 

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