There was no doubt that the second day of the Tour de Yorkshire belonged completely to the Dutch, as Team Sky’s Danny van Poppel emulated compatriot Kirsten Wild by leading the bunch home in Doncaster. To add to the Dutch flavour, van Poppel edged out another young Dutchman, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), finishing just centimetres ahead of the stage 1 winner, who did at least have the consolation of holding onto the race leader’s blue jersey going into the final day.
The stage followed a very similar pattern to the women’s race a few hours earlier, with a small group holding a narrow advantage going into the final 20 kilometres only to be neutralised by the fast-moving bunch, where most of the GC favourites sat tight ahead of the very hilly final stage between Middlesbrough and Scarborough. Unfortunately, just like the women’s race, the men’s was also hit by technical issues that meant very little live coverage was possible.
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The break went early and, as on day one, British riders were prominent in it. The home contingent comprised Richard Handley from ONE Pro Cycling, Edmund Bradbury and Josh Edmondson from NFTO, and Gruff Lewis from Madison-Genesis, with Michael Morkov from Katusha and Stijn Steels from Topsport Vlaanderen also part of the sextet.
Their lead fluctuated at between a minute and 90 seconds throughout the first half of the stage. Just beyond halfway, Cofidis’s Nicolas Edet bridged across to join them to make seven up front.
The final climb of the day at Conisbrough Castle produced a split in the group, with Edet, Morkov, Steels and Edmondson ploughing on, although with their lead now under 30 seconds. Riding into the headwind that had thwarted world champion Lizzie Armistead’s hopes of a breakaway success earlier in the day, the quartet were never likely to stay clear, especially as LottoNL-Jumbo, BMC, Sky and Orica-GreenEdge were all contributing to drive the peloton along.
The bunch reeled in the breakaways 10 kilometres from home and powered on. Orica-GreenEdge were particularly prominent coming into the finish, with their aim clearly to set up Caleb Ewan for victory. However, the young Australian failed to feature when van Poppel and Groenewegen burst out of the pack in the final 200 metres.
Although Groenewegen was closing, van Poppel held on to win the battle of the 22 year olds and claim his first victory in Sky colours.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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