Report: Stage 2 Tour de Yorkshire

After the likes of Tom Stewart, Rob Scott, Jacob Scott, James Fouche and Chris McGlinchey (all part of British teams) had been out front all stage, it was the son of Erick Zabel, – Rick – who bossed the sprint in Bedale with a dominant victory

Report: Stage 2 win for Zabel

The bunched sprint expected for stage 2 eventually occurred in the streets of Bedale. After catching a 6-man breakaway group, the peloton made it to the finish where Rick Zabel proved to be the fastest. The German, son of legendary sprinter Erik Zabel, claimed the win ahead of Van Poppel and Britain’s Chris Lawless. Jesper Asselman keeps his overall leader’s blue jersey.

Several hours after Lorena Wiebes conquered stage 1 of the women’s ASDA Tour de Yorkshire, it was the men’s turn to take on their second stage of the event. And the sky was just as grey over Barnsley for the 126 riders still in the race. A good way to warm up was to attack and that’s exactly what Fabien Grellier (TDE) di as soon as the first kilometre. The Frenchman was eventually caught by three other riders at km 7: Stewart (DHB), Scott (SCB) and (McGlinchey (VIT). The gap grew rapidly and reached 1’25’’ at km 9 but the pack started chasing under the influence of team Dimension Data.

Just before the first intermediate sprint (km 20,5), won by Stewart, two Wiggins-Le Col riders manage to take off on a counter-attack. Fouché and Scott (WGN) eventually caught up with the front four while the gap again increases over the pack: 2’50’’ at km 31.

Approaching the climb of the day, James Fouché decided to power away on a quest for mountain points. He reached the top of the Côte de Lidley (km 69) on his own with an advantage of 15″ over Stewart and McGlinchey and 1’55″ over the pack. On the descent, the leading rider was joined again by his former companions.

The gap carried on dropping as the peloton entered the circuit of the next World Championships around Harrogate. At the second bonus sprint (84,5), claimed by Jacob Scott, the pack had closed in at 55’’. With 16kms to go, Stewart and McGlinchey feeling the pack moving closer broke away. While their former companions were caught they continued their efforts helped out by Rolland (VCB), Ourselin (TDE) and Williams (SCB). But the front five were finally realled in by the pack in the final four kilometres.

The pack remained bunched all the way to the final straight in Bedale. Well helped out by his Katusha-Alpecin team mates, Rick Zabel powered to the line claiming victory ahead of Boy Van Poppel (ROC) and Christopher Lawless (INS). Son of six-time Tour de France green jersey Erik Zabel, the German claims his first win of the season. The overall leader’s blue jersey remains on the shoulders of Jesper Asselman (ROC) while Van Poppel takes command of the points classification and Jacob Hennessy remains best climber.

Jacob Hennessy (Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes) defended his best climber’s jersey whilst Jacob Scott was voted the most aggressive rider.
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Rick Zabel: “I’m so, so happy to win a race. I really couldn’t believe it. I just realized it when I went to the podium and I was standing here. Tears came to my eyes. As a bike rider you want to win, and my last win was four years ago. Normally I am a lead out guy and I don’t have too many chances for myself. It’s just a super nice day for me that I can see ways to win races at the professional level.”

“I don’t know how, but I came in a good position in the last 500m, then I saw the 300m sign and I know I can do a long sprint. I thought ‘OK, I must go for it. If someone comes over me at least I tried.’ I was so afraid when I came in the last 50m because I’m not a guy who wins often and I thought today maybe I can win, and I was so afraid if someone comes over – it was such a relief when I crossed the line.”

Success in a bike race doesn’t come alone and Zabel was quick to acknowledge the hard work put in by his teammates today: “Thanks to my teammates who kept me out of the wind all day. They really believed in me. A few times today Nathan Haas said, ‘Hey man, you can win today. I believe in you.’ If you don’t try, you never win. That’s what I thought about in the last 500 meters. I had good momentum – I just started 10-15 wheels back. With 100 meters to go, I thought ‘Man, keep going, you can finish on the podium.’ At 50m I was still hopeful and then I crossed the finish line first. Thank you so much to the team.”

The Tour de Yorkshire continues on Saturday with stage 3. At 132k, the stage begins in Bridlington and ends in Scarborough.

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Stage 2
1. Rick Zabel Team Katusha – Alpecin 03:09:16
2. Boy Van Poppel Roompot – Charles
3. Christopher Lawless Team Ineos
4. Andrew Tennant Canyon DHB
5. Daniel McLay EF Education First
6. Andreas Stokbro Nielsen Riwal Readynez
7. Jonas Van Genechten Vital Concept – B&B Hotels
8. Michael Rice Hagens Berman – Axeon
9. Cyril Barthe Euskadi Basque – Murias
10. Connor Swift Madison – Genesis

11. Scott Thwaites Vitus Pro Cycling
15. Stephen Bradbury SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
16. Ethan Hayter GB
17. Gabriel Cullaigh Team Wiggins-Le Col
18. Mark Cavendish Team Dimension Data
19. Charley Calvert GSC Blagnac Vélo Sport
20. George Wood SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
21. Greg Van Avermaet CCC Team
24. Jesper Asselman Roompot – Charles
27. Scott Auld Ribble Pro Cycling
28. Edward Dunbar Team Ineos
31. Alex Luhrs Ribble Pro Cyclin
33. Robert-Jon McCarthy Canyon DHB
34. Jacob Hennessy Canyon DHB
35. Ben Turner, GB
37. Alistair Slater Vitus Pro Cycling
39. Sean Flynn, GB
41. Harry Tanfield Team Katusha – Alpecin
42. James Shaw SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
44. Adam Kenway Vitus Pro Cycling
49. Chris Froome Team Ineos
51. Owain Doull Team Ineos
52. Jonathan McEvoy Madison – Genesis
53. Isaac Mundy SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
56. Michael Cuming Madison – Genesis
59. Max Stedman Canyon DHB
60. William Tidball Team Inspired
64. Thomas Stewart Canyon DHB
66. Thomas Pidcock Team Wiggins-Le Col
67. Michael Mottram Vitus Pro Cycling
69. Matthew Holmes Arctic Tacx RT
70. Daniel Pearson Canyon DHB
73. Joey Walker Madison – Genesis
74. Rory Townsend Canyon DHB
77. Mark Christian Team Wiggins-Le Co
79. Gruff Lewis Ribble Pro Cycling
80. Christopher Latham Vitus Pro Cycling
81. John Archibald Ribble Pro Cycling
82. James Fouche Team Wiggins-Le Col
84. Ian Bibby Madison – Genesis
87. Christopher McGlinchey Vitus Pro Cycling @ 19 secs
89. Tristan Robbins SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
90. Robert Scott Team Wiggins-Le Col @ 23 secs
93. Ian Stannard Team Ineos
94. Richard Handley Madison – Genesis
96. Peter Williams SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 33 secs
98. Jacob Scott SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
99. Zeb Kyffin Ribble Pro Cycling @ 36secs
108. Daniel Bigham Ribble Pro Cycling @ 52 secs
109. Jacob Tipper Ribble Pro Cycling @ 52 secs
115. Graham Briggs Vitus Pro Cycling @ 01:34
118. Joe Nally Team Inspired @ 02:00

Overall
1 ASSELMAN Jesper ROC NED 7h14’50” 00″
2 ZABEL Rick TKA GER 7h14’51” 01″
3 VAN POPPEL Boy ROC NED 7h14’55” 05″
4 FORTIN Filippo COF ITA
5 HENNESSY Jacob DHB GBR
6 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas VCB BEL 7h14’57” 07″
7 LAWLESS Christopher INS GBR
8 VERMAERKE Kevin HBA USA
9 STEWART Thomas DHB GBR
10 BARTHE Cyril EUS FRA 7h15’01” 11″
11 RICE Michael HBA AUS
12 TENNANT Andrew DHB GBR
13 HAYTER Ethan GBR GBR
14 CULLAIGH Gabriel WGN GBR
15 IRIZAR LASKURAIN Julen EUS ESP
16 CAVENDISH Mark TDD GBR
17 SWIFT Connor MGT GBR
18 NIELSEN Andreas RIW DEN
19 THWAITES Scott VIT GBR
20 MCLAY Daniel GBR GBR
21 CALVERT Charley GBR GBR
22 VAN AVERMAET Greg CCC BEL
23 GARRISON Ian HBA USA
24 WOOD George SCB GBR
25 VAN DER LIJKE Nick ROC NED