May 1/15 14:33 pm - Tour of Yorkshire: Stage 1

Posted by Editoress on 05/1/15
 

Lars Petter Nordhaug claimed what he said felt like a “home victory” for his Sky team in front of massive crowds on day one of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire. Rain and a peril-strewn route through the North Yorkshire Moors had wreaked havoc earlier in the stage, with star attractions Ben Swift and Marcel Kittel both forced to abandon. Nordhaug will start tomorrow's theoretically more straightforward stage to York in the race leader's blue jersey and with a four-second advantage over Thomas Voeckler on general classification thanks to time bonuses. 

Party of five
Bright, cold and breezy weather greeted the 140 riders representing 18 teams and 22 countries at the start-line in Bridlington. The first meaningful break of the day formed after 21 kilometres and comprised Mark Christian (WGN), Loïc Chetout (FRA), Eddie Dunbar (IRL), Mark Stewart (MGT) and Rasmus Quaade (CLT). These five riders would stay together for 75 kilometres and build a maximum lead of just under five minutes before a peloton led by Team Sky gradually clawed back their deficit. The five would be reabsorbed at the foot of the Côte de Rosedale Abbey after 91 kilometres.

Kittel's misery and a Swift exit
The hostilities recommenced with an attack from Pierrick Quéméneur (EUC) in Danby with 68 kilometres to go. The Europcar rider was soon joined by Tim Declercq of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise (TSV), and that pair quickly built a lead of 40 seconds. Meanwhile, at the other end of the race, Marcel Kittel (TGA) was enduring a miserable time as rain started falling on the North York Moors. Dropped earlier on the Côte de Rosedale Abbey, Kittel had battled on for 20 kilometres but now decided to end his Tour de Yorkshire with just under 70 kilometres to go.

Kittel's would be the first of several notable withdrawals. Many of them resulted from crashes on a slippery descent in Egton 53 kilometres from home. One of the two leaders, Declercq, overshot a right-hand bend and went straight on into a hedge. In the peloton, one of the pre-race favourites, Ben Swift, tumbled on the same, treacherous downhill section and would follow Kittel into the broom wagon.

Snakes and ladders
Declercq's slip left Quéméneur alone at the head of the race, with his advantage holding at around 45 seconds over the Côte de Grosmont, with 50 kilometres to go. Confusion in the main bunch briefly allowed the Frenchman to extend his lead to over a minute, until Anthony Turgis (COF) and George Harper (ONE) countered and, behind that pair, the peloton slowly began to regroup. Quéméneur still took full points on the penultimate classified climb of the day, the Côte de Briggswath after 130km, ensuring that he will wear the King of the Mountains jersey on Saturday.

Decisive moves
On the uphill drag out of Whitby, with just under 40 kilometres still to ride, the peloton finally swept up Quéméneur. Now the serious attacks began: a fifteen-man lead group starring, among others, Samuel Sanchez (BMC), Philip Deignan (SKY), Lars Petter Nordhaug (SKY), David Lopez (SKY), Thomas Voeckler (EUC) came together, leaving the MTN-Qhubeka pair of Janse Van Rensburg and Stephen Cummings caught in no man's land with BMC's Greg Van Avermaet. Van Avermaet and Cummings caught the leaders only in time for a further selection to occur on the Côte de Robin Hood's Bay after 145 kilometres. Near the top of the climb, the lead group shattered under pressure from Deignan, with the Irishman dragging four other riders clear over the summit: his team-mate Nordhaug, Voeckler, Stéphane Rossetto (COF) and Sanchez. This quintet immediately built a lead of 20 seconds over a nine-man chase group - and had extended the gap to over a minute by the time they reached Scarborough.

Sky's power in numbers
Team Sky sought to make their numerical advantage pay by unleashing Nordhaug with 5 kilometres to go, then, when the Norwegian was caught, by trying with Deignan 2.5 kilometres from the line, again to no avail. The attacks and counters continued until the five leaders rode under the red kite together. At the 300-metre-to-go mark, Sanchez launched his sprint into the headwind gusting down the promenade, but was comfortably overhauled by Rossetto, who in turn couldn't hold off Nordhaug.

Report by ASO