Tour de Yorkshire 2019 – Stage 1 [LAST 10 KM]

May 2, 2019

Tour de Yorkshire 2019 – Stage 1 – Doncaster – Selby : 178,5 km

The European peloton returns to British shores later this week with the fifth edition of the Tour de Yorkshire. Defending champion Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) is set to return, while Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) both arrive looking to kick-start their seasons after a difficult spring. The race also sees the first outing of Team Ineos in their official 2019 kit, after the takeover from Team Sky. Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will lead a team that includes Ian Stannard and Owain Doull as the British squad aims to win their first Tour de Yorkshire title since the inaugural edition in 2015. Since then Thomas Voeckler, Serge Pauwels and Van Avermaet have all triumphed through a mixture of aggressive and tactically astute racing. Although this is arguably the weakest field in the race’s short history, with just four WorldTour squads on the start list, there are plenty of interesting subplots to follow during the four stages. Along with the likely protests set to befall Team Ineos over their lead sponsor’s controversial fracking programme, there are a number of rider appearances worthy of tracking.

Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Charles) defied expectations and smashed the hopes of the sprinters on the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire, taking out a rainy stage to Selby from a day-long breakaway, the rest of which was just caught within metres of the line.

Asselman, who snagged a small Yorkshire flag with his handlebars, held off Filippo Fortin (Cofidis) and Jonas van Genechten (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels), with teammate Boy van Poppel forgoing his own sprint to throw his arms in the air to celebrate his team’s win.

“It’s the biggest victory of my career,” Asselman said. “Last year a really tough year, I broke my ankle and I was almost the whole year off the bike. In the spring, with the classics, I already felt I was really strong but I didn’t feel like it was going my way, and I was a little frustrated. That this happened now – I still can’t believe it. It’s really awesome to start the second part of the season like this.”

It was an incredible feat for the breakaway to hold on – even though Asselman’s fellow escapees Kevin Vermaerke (Hagens Berman Axeon), Daniel Bigham (Ribble Pro Cycling), and Joseph Nally (Great Britain National Team) were caught in sight of the line.

“I thought we were going to get caught [earlier] because the advantage went down really fast in the last 15 to 20km,” Asselman said. “When we went underneath the flamme rouge I knew we had a little chance, but I knew I had to stay calm and wait for the right moment. It was a little bit of a gamble, but I went through a small gap on the inside and just went full gas. I looked under my elbow and saw it was going to happen.”

The monumental effort of the breakaway was aided slightly by bone-chilling cold and rain that plagued racers for the final half of the stage, the rain at times mixed with hail.

“I think it’s always an advantage to ride in front in these type of conditions,” Asselman said. “It was so cold. I tried to put on an extra jacket and I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t close the zipper. I’m still shivering like crazy.”

Asselman leads the Tour de Yorkshire over Fortin and fellow breakaway rider Jacob Hennessy (Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes), who won both intermediate sprints and earned six seconds in time bonuses.

How it unfolded

The 2019 Tour de Yorkshire got underway with a testing 182.5km stage from Doncaster to Selby, with some patches of blue sky interrupting ominously dark clouds overhead.

With only one classified climb on the route, the Côte de Baggaby Hill with 47.5km to go, it was a day primed for a stereotypical no-hope breakaway. But was it?

A group of seven riders nonetheless gave it a college try, with James Fouche (Team Wiggins Lecol), Kevin Vermaerke (Hagens Berman Axeon), Jacob Hennessy (Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes), Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Charles), Daniel Bigham (Ribble Pro Cycling), and Joseph Nally and Sean Flynn (Great Britain National Team) making up the escape that was kept in close check by Team Ineos and Dimension Data.

The skies opened up midway through the northward journey to Selby, but the foul weather did not deter the breakaway, who worked to build up a 1:45 lead.

The seven riders had a few nuggets of inspiration along the route, with two intermediate sprints coming before the bookending the sole classified climb. It was Hennessy who reaped the fruits of the day’s labour, taking out both sprints and the climb.

Baggaby Hill was the undoing for Hennessy, however, and he soon left the breakaway to go back to the shelter of the peloton along with Flynn and Fouche, leaving Nally, Bigham, Vermaerke and Asselman to try and hold off the chase from the peloton.

Largely due to the power of Bigham, who is part of the national team pursuit squad, the quartet extended their lead after the climb to a remarkable 2:34, and continued to hold onto a two minute advantage with 25km to go as Dimension Data’s Rasmus Tiller suffered on the front of the peloton to try and keep the gap from expanding.

Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) suffered a puncture with 23km to go, but had no worries in getting back into the peloton, who were steadily chipping away at the breakaway’s lead once the newly minted Team Ineos sent a man to the front to help Dimension Data.

The four up front made the WorldTour teams work for it, and, holding a minute with 14km remaining, it was up to Eddie Dunbar and Ian Stannard (Ineos) to slash their advantage.

The twisting, often narrow route to Selby caused a little havoc for the bunch, and the repeated slow-downs left the four leaders with 30 seconds still with 5km to go and a whisper of hope they could foil the ‘doomed breakaway’ moniker.

The four leaders cooperated perfectly like a well-oiled team pursuit squad, with each one taking hard turns, low in an aerodynamic tuck, fighting against a bunch led by Stannard. Could youth and exuberance really beat experience and brute strength?

With 20 seconds in hand with 2km to go, it was touch and go for the breakaway as Katusha-Alpecin took over for Sky to try and crush the interlopers once and for all.

With no time for cat and mouse, the four kept pushing even though the peloton had them in sight with 200m to go. Asselman went first and could probably feel the breath of the peloton but managed to just hold on to claim the stage and overall race lead.

Results :
1 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 4:05:45
2 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
3 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
4 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
5 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
6 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain National Team
7 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
8 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
9 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
10 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
11 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
12 Joseph Nally (GBr) Great Britain National Team
13 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
14 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
15 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles
16 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
17 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
18 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
19 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
20 Charley Calvert (GBr) Great Britain National Team
21 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
22 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
23 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
24 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
25 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
26 Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
27 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles
28 William Tidball (GBr) Great Britain National Team
29 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
30 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
31 George Wood (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
32 Christopher Latham (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
33 Peter Williams (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
34 Daniel McLay (GBr) Great Britain National Team
35 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
36 Alex Luhrs (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
37 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
38 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
39 Michael Mottram (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
40 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
41 Christopher Mcglinchey (Irl) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
42 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
43 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
44 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
45 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
46 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
47 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
48 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
49 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
50 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
51 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
52 Corentin Navarro (Fra) Team Wiggins Lecol
53 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
54 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
55 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
56 James Shaw (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
57 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
58 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos
59 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
60 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
61 John Archibald (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
62 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
63 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
64 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
65 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
66 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
67 Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
68 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
69 Alistair Slater (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
70 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
71 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol
72 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
73 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
74 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
75 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
76 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot-Charles
77 Huub Duijn (Ned) Roompot-Charles
78 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol
79 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
80 Isaac Mundy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
81 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
82 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
83 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
84 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
85 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
86 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
87 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
88 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
90 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
91 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
92 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
93 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
94 Zeb Kyffin (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
95 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
96 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
97 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
98 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
99 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon
100 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
101 Sergio Rodriguez Reche (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
102 Ian Bibby (GBr) Madison Genesis
103 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
104 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
105 Jacob Tipper (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
106 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
107 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
108 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
109 John Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
110 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
112 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
113 Scott Auld (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling 0:00:43
114 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
115 Stephen Bradbury (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:03:25
116 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
117 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:03:27
118 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:04:01
119 Graham Briggs (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK 0:05:33
120 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:06:43
121 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data 0:08:57
122 Ander Barrenetxea Uriarte (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
123 Ben Turner (GBr) Great Britain National Team
124 Sean Flynn (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:10:31
125 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
126 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
DNF Zico Waeytens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Axel Journiaux (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
DNF Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 4:05:34
2 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:05
3 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
4 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:00:07
5 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
6 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling 0:00:10
7 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:00:11
8 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
9 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain National Team
10 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
11 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
12 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
13 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
14 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
15 Joseph Nally (GBr) Great Britain National Team
16 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
17 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles
18 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
19 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
20 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
21 Charley Calvert (GBr) Great Britain National Team
22 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
23 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
24 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
25 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
26 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
27 Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
28 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles
29 William Tidball (GBr) Great Britain National Team
30 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
31 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
32 George Wood (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
33 Christopher Latham (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
34 Peter Williams (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
35 Daniel McLay (GBr) Great Britain National Team
36 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
37 Alex Luhrs (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
38 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
39 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
40 Michael Mottram (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
41 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
42 Christopher Mcglinchey (Irl) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
43 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
44 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
45 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
46 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
47 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
48 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
49 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
50 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
51 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
52 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
53 Corentin Navarro (Fra) Team Wiggins Lecol
54 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
55 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
56 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
57 James Shaw (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
58 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
59 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos
60 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
61 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
62 John Archibald (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
63 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
64 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
65 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
66 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
67 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
68 Adam Kenway (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
69 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
70 Alistair Slater (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK
71 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
72 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol
73 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
74 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
75 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
76 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
77 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot-Charles
78 Huub Duijn (Ned) Roompot-Charles
79 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol
80 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
81 Isaac Mundy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
82 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
83 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
84 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
85 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
86 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
87 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
88 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
90 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
91 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
92 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
93 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
94 Zeb Kyffin (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
95 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
96 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
97 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
98 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
99 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon
100 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
101 Sergio Rodriguez Reche (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
102 Ian Bibby (GBr) Madison Genesis
103 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
104 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
105 Jacob Tipper (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling
106 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
107 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
108 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
109 John Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
110 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
112 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
113 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
114 Scott Auld (GBr) Ribble Pro Cycling 0:00:54
115 Stephen Bradbury (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:03:36
116 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
117 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:03:38
118 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:04:12
119 Graham Briggs (GBr) Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK 0:05:44
120 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:06:54
121 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data 0:09:08
122 Ander Barrenetxea Uriarte (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
123 Ben Turner (GBr) Great Britain National Team
124 Sean Flynn (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:10:42
125 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
126 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel