Yorkshireman Harry Tanfield sealed a surprise victory on the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire in Doncaster today.
The 23 year old from Great Ayton worked his way into the day’s main breakaway and then played a pivotal role as the escapees evaded the peloton on the 182km trek from Beverley. With 300 metres to go Tanfield turned on the afterburners and edged past Alistair Slater (JLT Condor) to become the first-ever Yorkshireman to win a stage of the race.
Huge crowds turned out in Beverley to see the start of the fourth edition and clement conditions meant the county was at its magnificent best as the riders wound their way through the Yorkshire Wolds and then headed south towards Doncaster for that dramatic finish along Bennetthorpe.
The breakaway group containing Tanfield formed early in the stage and Michael Cuming (Madison Genesis) was the first rider over the Côte de Baggaby Hill to earn himself a spell in the best climber’s jersey sponsored by Virgin Trains.
Tanfield then passed Cuming on the descent which followed to take maximum points in the first intermediate sprint in Pocklington, while Slater took the next of those points in Howden.
With those in the bag the breakaway reformed and a live Twitter vote saw Tanfield awarded the most active jersey sponsored by Dimension Data before the escapees survived to battle it out for the victory.
Tanfield emerged triumphant and the bonus seconds awarded for that win meant he opened up a three-second advantage over Slater in the General Classification. The Canyon Eisberg rider will now wear the blue leader’s jersey sponsored by Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries for the second stage. He also tops the Best Sprinter Classification sponsored by Asda.
Results
1 Harry Tanfield (GBR) Canyon Eisberg 4:08:12
2 Alistair Slater (GBR) JLT Condor
3 Michael Cuming (GBR) Madison Genesis
4 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
5 Thomas Baylis (GBR) One Pro Cycling
6 Max Walscheid (GER) Team Sunweb 0:00:05
7 Bryan Coquard (FRA) Vital Concept Club
8 Emils Liepins (LAT) One Pro Cycling
9 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
10 Riccardo Minali (ITA) Astana Pro Team
General Classification after stage one
1 Harry Tanfield (GBR) Canyon Eisberg 4:07:58
2 Alistair Slater (GBR) JLT Condor +3 sec
3 Michael Cuming (GBR) Madison Genesis +10 sec
4 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling +14 sec
5 Thomas Baylis (GBR) One Pro Cycling
