Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

May 04, 2018

Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – Stage 2 – Barnsley – Ilkley : 149 km

Established in the wake of the 2014 Tour de France’s successful Grand Départ in the region, the ASO-organised Tour de Yorkshire is now in its fourth year. With that comes an extra stage, making it a four-day race. Taking in the eastern Pennines, as well as the North York Moors, the Tour de Yorkshire is one for the puncheurs and baroudeurs. It’s not all hills, though, with at least one opportunity for the sprinters along the way. Rather than a staging ground for new talent, the race has so far proven to be a battle of established riders. Looking at the roll of honour and seeing the names of Lars Petter Nordhaug, Thomas Voeckler and Serge Pauwels gives one a good idea of what to expect. The race kicks off in Beverley on Thursday, May 3, and finishes in Leeds on Sunday, May 6.

Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) won the second stage of the Tour de Yorkshire on Friday, prevailing on the hilltop finish in Ilkley. He beat Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) into second place with a well-timed sprint, while Eduard Prades (Euskadi-Murias) took third.

It was something of a sprint in slow-motion, with the contenders coming to the fore late in the climb. Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) took up the reins in the final kilometre, before Van Avermaet flew past 300 metres from the line. But Cort Nielsen got his timing just a little better – enough to overhaul the Belgian and claim his second victory of the season.

“It’s really a tough stage today and actually I thought the finish would be too hard for me,” Cort Nielsen said after the stage. “The team had big belief in me and I really have to thank them for supporting me.”

“I thought [Van Avermaet] was the man to beat. I knew I would be quick so I was just hoping for no big attacks and then I could open up in the final 150 metres,” he added. “We will try everything [for overall victory] – I believe if I can win here it’s possible but there’s still a long way to go.”

Cort Nielsen is the new overall leader, four seconds ahead of Van Avermaet and six ahead of Prades.

How it unfolded

After a shock breakaway victory in Thursday’s opener, stage two looked to signal the beginning of the GC battle. Three categorised climbs lay in wait on the 149km route from Barnsley to Ilkley, with the hilltop finish on the Côte de Cow and Calf (1.8km at 8.2 per cent) set up to give the race a new overall leader.

Along the way came two intermediate sprints – at Swinton after 41.5km, and at Scholes after 104km. The first obstacle of a lumpy day was the Côte de Blacker Hill (1.6km at 5.8 per cent), coming after 29km. Then, at 18km from the line, the Côte de Old Pool Bank (1km at 10 per cent) served as a leg softener ahead of the finale.

Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Ben Swift (Great Britain) were notable names in the early break of the day, but they were never allowed more than 20 seconds during their 40km sojourn, with the peloton wiser after the events of stage one.

Fourth overall in 2015, Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) felt confident enough to launch a solo counter-attack soon after. He was later joined by Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi-Murias), Tom Baylis (One Pro Cycling) and Tobyn Horton (Madison-Genesis) as the peloton slowed up, happy with the break’s composition.

The quartet worked well together, their gap topping out at 2:30 before the peloton began to up the pace. A mistake from the lead organiser’s car didn’t help matters, taking the break off-route and costing them over 30 seconds.

Rossetto was the last man standing from the break, swallowed up on the Côte de Old Pool Bank 18km from the finish. The double-digit slopes slimmed the peloton down to around 60 riders, with Jacob Scott (One Pro Cycling) launching a late attack ahead of the final climb.

Scott was caught 2km from the line as the red tide of BMC and Cofidis led the way at the head of the peloton. After a brief intervention from One Pro Cycling on the lower slopes of the climb, Pauwels and then Van Avermaet took command. But it was Cort Nielsen who came to the fore at the right time, launching to victory 150 metres from the line.

Results :
1 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 3:25:34
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
3 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
4 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
5 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:05
6 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
7 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
8 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
9 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:11
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
11 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:00:13
13 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor
14 Etienne van Empel (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
15 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
16 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
17 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:19
18 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
19 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:25
20 James Shaw (GBr) Great Britain
21 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
22 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:28
23 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:00:31
24 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Sky
25 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
26 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
27 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Great Britain
28 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
29 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:37
30 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
31 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor 0:00:39
32 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
33 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
34 Edward Laverack (GBr) JLT Condor
35 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
36 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
37 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept Club
38 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:47
39 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
40 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
41 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
42 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:50
43 Jeremy Cornu (Fra) Direct Energie
44 Hayden McCormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling 0:00:53
45 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:57
46 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:01
47 James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:01:07
48 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:01:14
49 Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:01:17
50 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:01:18
51 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain
52 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
53 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:30
54 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:01:34
55 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:58
56 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:04
57 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie 0:02:08
58 Robbert de Greef (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
59 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain 0:02:14
60 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
61 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally Cycling
62 Joey Walker (GBr) Great Britain
63 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:02:47
64 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:11
65 Seid Lizde (Ita) Holdsworth Pro Racing
66 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
67 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky 0:03:36
68 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:04:00
69 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
70 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept Club
71 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept Club
72 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
73 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:04:20
74 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:04:27
75 Jacob Scott (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:04:32
76 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:05:00
77 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:09:27
78 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
79 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
80 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
81 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
82 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
83 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team
84 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
85 Russell Downing (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
86 Axel Journiaux (Fra) Direct Energie
87 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
88 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Irl) JLT Condor
89 Joshua Hunt (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
90 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
91 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
92 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
93 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
94 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
95 Julien Morice (Fra) Vital Concept Club
96 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept Club
97 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
98 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
99 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
100 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
101 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
102 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
103 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
104 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
105 Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
106 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
107 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
108 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept Club
109 Thomas Baylis (GBr) One Pro Cycling
110 Tobyn Horton (GBr) Madison Genesis
111 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
112 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:46
113 Emils Liepins (Lat) One Pro Cycling 0:09:49
114 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:10:13
115 Ben Walsh (Irl) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:11:25
116 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling 0:19:27
117 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
118 Julio Alberto Amores Palacios (Spa) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:20:41
119 Shane Archbold (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport
120 Oliver Wood (GBr) JLT Condor
121 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
122 Harrison Jones (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
123 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
124 Sean McKenna (Irl) Holdsworth Pro Racing
125 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:20:52
126 Liam Davies (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:20:58
DNF Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
DNF Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling
DNF Chris Opie (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
DNF Grant Martin (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
DNF Tom Mazzone (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNF Mattia Viel (Ita) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNF Jake Womersley (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
DNF Jake Stewart (GBr) Great Britain

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 7:33:41
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:04
3 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:06
4 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:00:10
5 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:15
6 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
7 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
8 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:21
9 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
10 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:00:23
12 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
13 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
14 Etienne van Empel (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
15 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor
16 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:00:29
17 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
18 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:33
19 James Shaw (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:35
20 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
21 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
22 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:38
23 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:00:40
24 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:00:41
25 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling
26 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
27 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Sky
28 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Great Britain
29 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
30 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
31 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:47
32 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
33 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:49
34 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
35 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
36 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
37 Edward Laverack (GBr) JLT Condor
38 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept Club
39 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:57
40 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
41 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
42 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:01:00
43 Jeremy Cornu (Fra) Direct Energie
44 Hayden McCormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling 0:01:03
45 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:01:07
46 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:11
47 James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:01:17
48 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:01:24
49 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 0:01:25
50 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:01:27
51 Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
52 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:28
53 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:40
54 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:01:44
55 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:08
56 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:14
57 Robbert de Greef (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:02:18
58 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
59 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally Cycling 0:02:24
60 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
61 Joey Walker (GBr) Great Britain
62 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain
63 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:02:57
64 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:21
65 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
66 Seid Lizde (Ita) Holdsworth Pro Racing
67 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky 0:03:46
68 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:04:10
69 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
70 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept Club
71 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:04:37
72 Jacob Scott (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:04:42
73 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept Club 0:04:48
74 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:05:10
75 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:05:32
76 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:06:40
77 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Canyon Eisberg 0:09:18
78 Thomas Baylis (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:09:29
79 Axel Journiaux (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:34
80 Tobyn Horton (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:09:35
81 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:09:36
82 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:09:37
83 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
84 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
85 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Irl) JLT Condor
86 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
87 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Russell Downing (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
89 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
90 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
91 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
92 Joshua Hunt (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
93 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Holdsworth Pro Racing
94 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept Club
95 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon Eisberg
96 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
97 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
98 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
99 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
100 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
101 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
102 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
103 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
104 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
105 Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
106 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
107 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept Club
108 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:56
109 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team 0:09:57
110 Emils Liepins (Lat) One Pro Cycling 0:09:59
111 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:10:23
112 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:10:59
113 Julien Morice (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:11:12
114 Ben Walsh (Irl) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:11:35
115 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:14:39
116 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:19:37
117 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling
118 Oliver Wood (GBr) JLT Condor 0:20:51
119 Harrison Jones (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling
120 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
121 Julio Alberto Amores Palacios (Spa) Vitus Pro Cycling
122 Sean McKenna (Irl) Holdsworth Pro Racing
123 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
124 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:21:02
125 Shane Archbold (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:21:24
126 Liam Davies (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling 0:26:48