Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

May 06, 2018

Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – Stage 4 – Halifax – Leeds : 189,5 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.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) took overall victory at the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire, as Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) scored a sensational solo victory on the final stage of the race. It was 34 seconds later that Van Avermaet won the sprint for second, while Ian Bibby (JLT Condor) rounded off the podium.

Already having been in the break on stage 2, Rossetto was out front on his own for almost 120km of the 189.5km queen stage. The 31-year-old was part of the day’s initial break, attacking after 40km and then shedding his final break-mate on the hardest climb of the race before embarking on his lonely quest.

Van Avermaet’s victory came after Eddie Dunbar (Aqua Blue Sport) had blown up the race up on the final climb of the day, 18km from the line. With race leader Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) dropped and four BMC riders in the lead group, all that remained was for the American squad to fend off any attacks before the Belgian completed the job in the sprint.

Rossetto, who also won the mountains classification, compared the “amazing” race to the Tour de France after finishing, and cited Sylvain Chavanel and Vincenzo Nibali as inspirations for his fighting style.

“It’s one of the most beautiful victories of my career,” he said. “I’m very moved. It’s a huge win and a real life lesson – it shows if you work hard it pays off. I’m a bit of an old-fashioned rider, never over-calculating or over-analysing things. I like to get out there and take it on.”

The overall victory marks Van Avermaet’s second victory of the year, and his first since the Tour of Oman in February. Eduard Prades (Euskadi-Murias) took second overall, nine seconds down, while Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) was third at 14 seconds.

How it happened

Despite Halifax and Leeds lying roughly only 15 miles apart, the riders had to take the long way round for the final stage of the race, riding 189.5km through the picturesque – and brutally hilly – Yorkshire Moors. The first 50km featured three climbs – the Côte de Hebden Bridge (16km in – 7km at 4.6%), Côte de Goose Eye (31km in – 1.5km at 10%), and the Côte de Barden Moore (48.5km in – 1km at 9.5%).

Then followed perhaps the toughest of the race – the 2.2km, 10.5% Côte de Park Rash, which came after 77km. After a mid-stage lull down in the valley, the final 60km featured six unclassified hills, as well as the Côte de Greenhow Hill 61.5km out (3.3km at 8.2%), and the Côte de Otley Chevin (1.4km at 10.3%), which came 25km from the line. Two intermediate sprints came 67.5km and 177km into the stage.

Within the first 20km the day’s break had been established, as an 18-strong group attacked the peloton. Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Énergie), Owain Doull (Team Sky), Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) and Maximilan Stedman (Canyon-Eisberg) were among the notable names out front.

At 40km into the stage, Stedman and Rossetto were away alone, with Stedman leading over the Barden Moor and Goose Eye climbs. But 30km later, on the Côte de Park Rash, the Frenchman – fourth here in 2015 and in the break on stage 2 – left the Brit behind for good.

Astana led the peloton for much of the day, working for Cort Nielsen. Nine minutes back with 100km to race, they were four minutes behind the chase group. Meanwhile, up front Rossetto was surely beginning to entertain thoughts of a stage win to go with his mountains classification bid.

As the kilometres ticked down, Rossetto’s gap was slowly eroding rather than falling away. As he reached the final 40km, the shrinking peloton crested Greenhow Hill six minutes back, with the chase group four minutes down on the Cofidis man.

At Otley Chevin, the final climb of the race, Rossetto picked up maximum points once again to con-firm his mountain classification victory. A few minutes later, Dunbar kicked off the action on the climb, shattering the peloton as Cort Nielsen was dropped.

Four BMC riders, including Van Avermaet, made the selection in the aftermath. They led a group of around 14 riders which featured a number of men in GC contention. Up front Rossetto rode to the finish unmolested, securing a famous victory – his first since the 2014 Boucles de la Mayenne.

Despite several further attacks from Dunbar, the hills in the finale weren’t enough to dislodge Van Avermaet, leaving him with the relatively simple task of controlling the final sprint and bonus sec-onds.

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

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