Tour of Yorkshire Stage 2

2015_Raleigh_StoryBanner

The LottoNL-Jumbo team got their first win of 2015 as Moreno Hofland won the big bunch kick into York. Mark McNally of Madison Genesis won the Most  Agressive award.

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Tour of Yorkshire Stage 2

00_Yorkshire_Day2_12

The bunch kick spread across the road with Hofland celebrating before the line is even reached. Rus Downing is on the left.

The LottoNL-Jumbo team was beginning to wonder whether their first victory of the 2015 season would ever arrive. Happily for the Dutch outfit, Moreno Hofland broke the hoodoo in a sprint finish on stage 2 of the Tour de Yorkshire from Selby to York where 450.000 spectators lined the route.

On a day which looked briefly like one for the escape artists, Team Sky were relieved to see the peloton come back together in the finale and their race leader, Lars Petter Nordhaug, retain his narrow advantage on general classification.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_02

The break of eight that dominated the day led by Matt Brammeier from Mark McNally and Andrew Tennant

Eight escapees
After yesterday’s journey to and along the coast, the Tour de Yorkshire peloton headed inland today for stage two. The 132 riders left in the race set out from Selby at 11.20am, cheered by crowds worthy of a Tour de France in both number and volume.

Under slate skies, 18 riders including Philip Deignan (SKY), fifth overall and one of the stars yesterday, broke free of the main bunch after five kilometres. Eight of these men remained clear after 16 kilometres: Tennant (WGN), De Backer (TGA), Steels (TSV), Bernaudeau (EUC), Brammeier (MTN), Edet (COF), Slik (ROP) and McNally (MGT).

00_Yorkshire_Day2_08

Lots of teams were committing riders to help Sky control the race for a bunch kick.

McNally led the group of eight over the first classified climb, 5’15” ahead of a main peloton driven by Team Sky. The same rider would also take maximum points on the Côte de Fimber after 78.5 kilometres, with Edet, Tennant and Brammeier following him over the summit in that order. Back at the front of the main bunch, IAM Cycling were playing a game of containment and allowed the eight escapees’ advantage to increase to over six minutes.

The eight breakaway riders continued to work harmoniously as they headed through the feed zone in Norton (94.5 kilometres) with a lead of just under six minutes. With 60 kilometres to ride, though, the chasing pack and the IAM Cycling and LottoNL-Jumbo teams in particular decided to step up their pursuit. Within ten kilometres, the gap had tumbled to just over four minutes. A bunch sprint suddenly looked like the formality that many had predicted.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_10

But when the hammer went down a lot of riders were sent to the pain cave. Here, Rob Partridge of NFTO is one of those at the front flat stick

Then there were two
The pressure from behind began to take its toll on the leaders as they headed towards the last 50 kilometres. Bernaudeau was the first rider to sit up. The peloton had then reduced its deficit to just over two minutes by the time they swept into York with 40 kilometres to go.

Fifteen kilometres later, aware that the peloton was closing, McNally and De Backer attacked from the group of seven. This duo held a one-minute advantage over the peloton as they entered the last 20 kilometres. The remaining five escapees were finally absorbed into the main bunch 17 kilometres from the line.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_11

On the finishing circuit, Mark McNally (Madison Genesis) and De Backer slipped away on a corner and did what they  could to hold off the peloton.

With 5.5 kilometres to race and the peloton now within 15 seconds, De Backer attacked and dropped McNally. The Belgian would hold off the peloton for a further four kilometres before both his 167-kilometre effort and a short-lived counter attack by Anthony Turgis’s (COF) came to an end.

Relief for LottoNL and Hofland
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) bolted out of the bunch under the kilometre-to-go kite and briefly looked capable of a vintage coup de finisseur. With 200 metres to go, though, the Belgian was swept up in a bunch stampede led home by Moreno Hofland (TLJ).

00_Yorkshire_Day2_13

Hofland (above) had been poised on Matteo Pelucchi’s (IAM) rear wheel throughout the last two kilometres, and comfortably beat the Italian into second place. Further back in the main peloton, race leader Lars Petter Nordhaug coasted home to retain his four-second advantage over Thomas Voeckler on general classification with just Sunday’s “Queen Stage” to Leeds remaining. Perrig Quémeneur also keeps his King of the Mountains jersey.

Moreno Hofland: “I am very pleased that we are rid of that awful zero,” said Hofland. “I had a difficult start of the year but hopefully we are now on the upward trend. I had a lot of moral, but this gives the run-up to the Giro an extra boost. It would be nice if I could do something like that again today.”

“I sat in for the last 40 kilometers on the wheel of Robert Wagner and he put me in the right spot for the sprint. Then I chose the wheel of Pelluchi. I waited until the sign of the 200 meters and then went full speed”.

Mark McNally (Madison Genesis): “That was hard. I felt much better than yesterday and we were away ina big group in the beginning but it was big and Philip Deignan from Sky was in there so I spoke to a few lads and said we need to go again which we did and ended up with a nice little group of eight with some friendly faces in there like Matt Brammeier”.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_15

“Towards the end, after opening up a big gap, the peloton took a big chunk out of it with 70k to go I think and we all committed and got ride of the Europcar guy because he was a dead weight like. We hit the finishing circuit and everyone was a bit dubious like and Burt come up to me and stay together and we accelerated through a corner and after that I was hanging on to him for grim death.”

“I’m really happy with the day. The crowd was insane with so many people out and its always great to be on the podium and I’m made up”.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_16

Russell Downing (Cult Energy) – “It was a good stage and the boys in the team did a good job of controlling it. In the cross winds, we were all working and going well but 7th is not a great reward for them boys. It was a very controlled race and the crowds were amazing”.

“Just in the middle of no where the crowds were everywhere, stood on traffic islands, and it was great. Its a good think when you bring a bike to a city like this, there are people who have come to see the race and those here anyway. Tomorrow could be easier than day 1 because they didn’t know day 1 was going to be hard but they know day 3 will be so they may relax a bit more. It won’t be easy though as its up and down all day.”

00_Yorkshire_Day2_14

Perrig Quemeneur,KoM leader

00_Yorkshire_Day2_09

The hammer has gone down and there were a lot of riders in the gutter

00_Yorkshire_Day2_07

After the eight escaped, Tom Stewart from Madison Genesis escaped to chase them but never made it across.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_06

The first selection that was too big and had riders in it the peloton were never going to let go clear.

00_Yorkshire_Day2_04

The crowds in York were insane!

00_Yorkshire_Day2_03

Lars Petter Nordhaug being helped back to the peloton by a teammate

00_Yorkshire_Day2_01

The riders do a lap of Selby before the race started proper.

2015_FSA_MidstoryBanner

Result
1 Moreno Hofland, Lotto NL- Jumbo 3:57:58
2 Matteo Pelucchi, IAM Cycling
3 Ramon Sinkeldam, Giant-Alpecin
4 Jean-Pierre Drucker,BMC Racing
5 Dylan Groenewegen, Team Roompot
6 André Looij, Team Roompot
7 Russell Downing,Cult Energy Pro Cycling
8 Andreas Stauff,MTN – Qhubeka
9 Harry Tanfield, JLT Condor
10 Pieter Vanspeybrouck, Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise

13 Greg Van Avermaet, BMC Racing
14 Chris Opie, One Pro Cycling
15 Ian Wilkinson, Raleigh
18 Yanto Barker, One Pro Cycling
19 Steele von Hoff, NFTO
20 Samuel Sanchez, BMC Racing
23 Marcin Bialoblocki, One Pro Cycling
26 Morgan Kneisky, Raleigh
30 Christopher Lawless, Team WIGGINS
31 Erick Rowsell, Madison Genesis
37 Richard Handley, JLT Condor
41 Mark Christian, Team WIGGINS
42 Karol Domagalski, Raleigh
43 Olivier Wood, Great Britain
47 Stephen Cummings, MTN – Qhubeka
49 Germain Burton, Great Britain
50 Steven Lampier, Raleigh
51 Michael James Northey, Madison Genesis
53 Thomas Stewart, Madison Genesis
58 Joshua Hunt, One Pro Cycling
61 Scott Davies, Great Britain
62 Peter Williams, One Pro Cycling
68 Evan Oliphant, Raleigh
70 Joshua Edmondson, Great Britain
72 Dexter Gardias, One Pro Cycling
75 Bradley Morgan, Raleigh
77 Gabriel Cullaigh, Great Britain
82 Kristian House, JLT Condor
83 Tobyn Horton, Madison Genesis
84 Dale Appleby, NFTO
85 Michael Thompson, Team WIGGINS
86 Owain Doull, Team WIGGINS
87 Marc Hester, One Pro Cycling
90 Bradley Wiggins, Team WIGGINS
91 James McLaughlin, Madison Genesis
94 Liam Holohan, Madison Genesis
95 Ian Bibby, NFTO
96 Jonathan McEvoy, NFTO 0:00:19
101 Calvin Beneke, Raleigh
102 Christopher Latham, Great Britain
104 Dan Craven, Europcar 0:01:09
105 Thomas Moses, JLT Condor 0:01:13
106 Mark McNally, Madison Genesis 0:01:24
107 Matt Brammeier, MTN – Qhubeka 0:01:36
109 James Lowsley Williams, NFTO
110 Iain Paton, Team WIGGINS
111 Edward Clancy, JLT Condor
112 George Harper, One Pro Cycling 0:03:09
114 Thomas Scully, Madison Genesis
117 Andrew Tennant, Team WIGGINS 0:06:45
120 Mark Stewart, Great Britain
122 Luke Grivell-Mellor, JLT Condor
123 Robert Partridge, NFTO
124 Michael Cuming, JLT Condor
125 Tom Barras, NFTO 0:08:44
128 Jake Kelly, Great Britain
129 Karel Hnik,Cult Energy Pro Cycling 0:17:33
130 Andrew Hawdon, Raleigh
131 Graham Briggs, JLT Condor
Most aggressive Mark McNally, Madison Genesis

OVERALL
1 Lars Petter Nordhaug, Team Sky 8:20:26
2 Samuel Sanchez, BMC Racing 0:00:10
3 Thomas Voeckler, Europcar
4 Stéphane Rossetto, Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:12
5 Philip Deignan, Team Sky 0:00:16
6 Anthony Turgis, Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:18
7 Greg Van Avermaet, BMC Racing 0:01:20
8 Erick Rowsell, Madison Genesis
9 Ben Hermans, BMC Racing 0:01:23
10 Richard Handley, JLT Condor 0:01:26
11 Huub Duijn, Team Roompot
12 David Lopez, Team Sky 0:01:29
13 Stephen Cummings, MTN – Qhubeka
14 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin, MTN – Qhubeka
15 Scott Davies, Great Britain
16 Russell Downing, Cult Energy Pro Cycling 0:02:31
17 Thomas Sprengers, Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
18 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg, MTN – Qhubeka
19 Julien Simon, Cofidis, Solutions Credits
20 Joseph Rosskopf, BMC Racing

KOM
1 Perrig Quemeneur, Europcar 10 pts
2 Mark McNally, Madison Genesis 10
3 Thomas Stewart, Madison Genesis 7

2015_liveheader

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: , , ,