Tour of Yorkshire: Stage 3

Solo move  by Serge Pauwels on a brutal stage 3 was enough to give him the overall, Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis leading Brit in 5th overall.

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Tour of Yorkshire: Stage 3

Solo move  by Serge Pauwels on a brutal stage 3 was enough to give him the overall, Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis leading Brit in 5th overall.

SERGE Pauwels has paid his dues in his wait for a first professional win so it was only fitting the Belgian was rewarded for a daring long-range attack with both stage and overall victory at the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire.

Photo: SW Pix

The 33-year-old Belgian rider has been one of the nearly men of the peloton, agonizingly finishing second on the Mont Ventoux at last year’s Tour de France, just two seconds behind compatriot Thomas de Gendt. But he finally got his reward on stage three in Fox Valley, near Sheffield, attacking from more than 10km out and holding on with the help of Dimension Data teammate, and roommate for the week, Omar Fraile in a one-two for the team.

As a result he was able to raise his hands aloft in celebration after clinching the toughest stage in the race’s history, and is already targeting more success. “It feels a bit strange because it’s been the first time I can raise my hands,” said Pauwels. “I’ve been quite close, for example last year on the Mont Ventoux and the Dauphiné, I’ve been second, third, fourth, everything except for winning and now I have got two at the same time so it’s even more special.

“I’ve been always fighting for it and I think these days in cycling it’s not a bad thing to get older, you see (Alejandro) Valverde and the other riders performing still very well at a higher age. It’s also the case with me and I’ve always tried to be professional through my career and I still love my sport a lot. Maybe this is the start of more victories. That’s what they say.

Rory Townsend leads a little move away just after Zero kilometre but sadly it never stuck

“The first thing I saw [when Omar Fraile caught up] was his front wheel, I recognized it because it’s the same wheel I’m riding on. The first thing I thought was the whole group was there but then he took over and said let’s go. He said it’s for you or something like that. I think it’s a great gift from him to give me the victory, although I think I also deserved it. But he’s a great rider and a great guy. I was rooming with him this week, he’s a great guy.”

“I was expecting a harder race from the start but because of the headwind all day, the peloton was still pretty much together towards the final circuit. It made me a bit nervous because I’m not really an explosive rider so I wanted a hard race all day. I was not thinking I could finish it off but I chose my right moment to go.”

Pauwels and Fraile completed a one-two on both the stage and the overall, with Frenchman Jonathan Hivert in third, while Madison Genesis’ Matthew Holmes was the top Brit in fifth.

Yorkshire Bank is an Official Partner of the Tour de Yorkshire and the ground-breaking Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative.

A large group soon went clear though including Jonny McEvoy (Madison Genesis) ,  Dexter Gardias and Pete Williams from Skipton in Yorkshire, part of the route for the race.

With a strong block headwind that even had me on a motorbike being blown around, the peloton were in control mode on a very very hilly course

But when the race got to the finishing circuit and the series of KoMs one after the other, eventual winner Serge Pauwels went clear on his own

Behind, there was a chase group of a dozen or so riders led here by Tao Geoghegan Hart with Mark Christian just behind and Matt Holmes also in there

By the finish, Pauwels had been joined by Dimension Data teammate Omar Fraile for a 1-2. Pic SW Pix

Race leader at the start, sprinter Caleb Ewan was unsurprisingly distanced on the hilly course

Harry Tanfield wearing the combativity jersey with pride, struggled but finished on a course not suited to him

His teammate Dexter Gardias meanwhile was to also stand on the podium for the Combativity award but first had to finish after being out front of the race all day

Top team, Dimension Data with some Brits up there, Scott Thwaites and DS Roger Hammond

The crowds were amazing. Even uncategorised climbs had people on them whilst those like Shibden Wall were all over the race. Biggest crowds I’ve seen for a British race outside of the Tour de France.

Tao Geoghegan Hart: After the race Tao told TeamSky.com: “I’m happy but I obviously would have liked and aimed for more. It was quite a strange feeling having guys like Rowey and (Ian) Stannard and everyone putting themselves out there for and working for me. I didn’t expect that coming into this year and I’m really grateful to the team for the opportunity”.

“It was quite a hard final to play out. It was a bit cagey and a headwind on the climbs coming into Sheffield. I tried to go when I thought was the right time and hold back when I felt it was right. It didn’t quite go to plan but you definitely live and learn and you can only get better at racing the final of bike races by doing it.”

For Geoghegan Hart the performance was all the more impressive following a heavy crash during the sprint finish on Friday in Scarborough. “It was my first time ever having stitches,” he added. “I wouldn’t really have asked for that in a bike race but the team looked after me amazing to try and get me through the race. The legs felt good today. My shoulder and elbow were pretty sore but I don’t think they hampered me too much in the end.”

Brent Bookwalter (BMC) 4th: “We tried. It’s a little disappointing to feel good and physically strong but there was a little tactical hesitation. It’s easy to say after the race, hindsight is always 20/20. I think we did a good race given what we had, which was a couple of guys down from the start and then a couple of others with injuries and some bike issues today. Joey Rosskopf was awesome. He just keeps stepping up and up, and it’s always a pleasure to race with him. He always leaves it all out there for the team. He was super strong today. It was also really nice to have Amaël Moinard up there. Amaël has more experience than most guys in this race and he was definitely calming in the intense moments. Now I head off to the Tour of California and look forward to racing there.”

Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis – 5th overall

Mike Northey, DS of Madison Genesis

Yorkshire Bank is an Official Partner of the Tour de Yorkshire and the ground-breaking Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative. Visit www.ybonline.co.uk/tdy

Final Overall Tour of Yorkshire
1. Serge Pauwels Dimension Data
2. Omar Fraile Dimension Data
3. Jonathan ivert Direct Energie :07
4. Brent Bookwalter BMC Racing Team 0:18
5. Matthew Holmes Madison Genesis :20
6. Maurits Lammertink Team Katusha – Alpecin
7. Mark Christian Aqua Blue Sport
8. Tao Geoghegan Hart Team Sky
9. Lennard Hofstede Team Sunweb
10. Joey Rosskopf BMC Racing Team 0:35

21. Thomas Stewart One Pro Cycling
23. Max Stedman BIKE Channel Canyon3
24. Daniel Pearson Aqua Blue Sport
26. Richard Handley Madison Genesis
27. Ian Bibby JLT Condor
30. Ethan Hayter Great Britain 3:12
31. Thomas Voeckler Direct Energie 4:18
35. Andrew Fenn Aqua Blue Sport
38. Alistair Slater JLT Condor 5:42
42. Alex Frame JLT Condor ,
43. Ryan Perry Team Raleigh GAC ,
45. Adam Kenway Team Raleigh GAC ,
47. Adam Hartley Great Britain ,
48. Adria Moreno Team Raleigh GAC ,
51. Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling ,
53. Scott Thwaites Dimension Data 7:30
54. Thomas Moses JLT Condor 7:47
55. Joey Walker Great Britain 7:49
56. Steven Lampier JLT Condor 8:07
59. Jack Pullar BIKE Channel Canyon 8:50
61. Caleb Ewan ORICA-Scott 9:40
63. Luke Rowe Team Sky 9:52
64. Enrique Sanz Team Raleigh GAC 9:56
65. Taylor Gunman Madison Genesis 9:58
67. Chris Opie BIKE Channel Canyon 10:36
69. Jonathan Mcevoy Madison Genesis 10:39
70. Jacob Hennesy Great Britain 10:40
72. Christopher Lawless Great Britain ,
75. Rob Partridge BIKE Channel Canyon ,
78. Connor Swift Madison Genesis 11:25
82. James Knox Great Britain 13:55
87. James Gullen JLT Condor 16:27
88. Steele Von Hoff One Pro Cycling 17:40
89. Jonathan Dibben Team Sky 18:22
90. Dexter Gardias BIKE Channel Canyon
91. Sebastián Mora Team Raleigh GAC 18:24
92. Conor Dunne Aqua Blue Sport 18:47
96. Tristan Robbins Team Raleigh GAC 20:43
97. Kristian House One Pro Cycling 22:33
98. Miles Scotson BMC Racing Team 22:34
99. Harry Tanfield BIKE Channel Canyon 22:51

Stage 3
1. Serge Pauwels Dimension Data 4:57:47
2. Omar Fraile Dimension Data
3. Jonathan Hivert Direct Energie :06
4. Brent Bookwalter BMC Racing Team
5. Tao Geoghegan Hart Team Sky 0:08
6. Maurits Lammertink Team Katusha – Alpecin
7. Matthew Holmes Madison Genesis
8. Mark Christian Aqua Blue Sport
9. Lennard Hofstede Team Sunweb
10. Joey Rosskopf BMC Racing Team 0:23

21. Ian Bibby JLT Condor 1:43
24. Thomas Stewart One Pro Cycling
25. Richard Handley Madison Genesis
26. Max Stedman BIKE Channel Canyon
27. Daniel Pearson Aqua Blue Sport
30. Ethan Hayter Great Britain 3:00
34. Alistair Slater JLT Condor
36. Thomas Voeckler Direct Energie
38. Andrew Fenn Aqua Blue Sport
44. Joey Walker Great Britain
45. Adam Hartley Great Britain
46. Scott Thwaites Dimension Data
47. Adria Moreno Team Raleigh GAC
53. Joshua Hunt One Pro Cycling
54. Jack Pullar BIKE Channel Canyon
55. Connor Swift Madison Genesis
56. Adam Kenway Team Raleigh GAC
57. Thomas Moses JLT Condor
58. Ryan Perry Team Raleigh GAC
59. Alex Frame JLT Condor
61. Steven Lampier JLT Condor
62. Taylor Gunman Madison Genesis
66. Sebastián Mora Team Raleigh GAC 9:32
67. Caleb Ewan ORICA-Scott 9:40
68. Luke Rowe Team Sky
69. Enrique Sanz Team Raleigh GAC 9:44
70. Jacob Hennesy Great Britain 10:28
71. Christopher Lawless Great Britain
72. Rob Partridge BIKE Channel Canyon
73. Dylan Groenewegen Team LottoNL-Jumbo
76. Chris Opie BIKE Channel Canyon
80. Jonathan Mcevoy Madison Genesis
83. Kristian House One Pro Cycling
84. Tristan Robbins Team Raleigh GAC
85. James Gullen JLT Condor
94. Conor Dunne Aqua Blue Sport
95. James Knox Great Britain 13:43
96. Steele Von Hoff One Pro Cycling 17:28
97. Harry Tanfield BIKE Channel Canyon 18:10
99. Dexter Gardias BIKE Channel Canyon
100. Jonathan Dibben Team Sky

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