Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) won the opening stage of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.
The Dutch rider wove his way through his sprint rivals in the bunch finish to take the victory ahead of Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and Chris Opie (Bike Channel Canyon).
“I am pleased that I could sprint for the stage win,” said Groenewegen. “It was a hard stage and on the climb I was in the second group. The team made a big effort to bring me back in front. It’s beautiful that I won. All the praise goes to my team-mates.”
According to Groenewegen, it was clear that Robin Hood’s Bay would be difficult. “We knew the climb was heavy. I was pretty tired, but the team brought me back well. It was important to win here. This is what you do it for.”
After the top of the climb, 28 kilometres remained to the finish. In the streets of Scaborough, the road went up. “I felt my legs and dropped back. Fortunately, Tom Leezer was there and dropped back from the front. In the last straight line, Bouhanni started sprinting. He shifted a bit, leaving space for me. Finally, Ewan came close, but I had the win.”
Tour de Yorkshire 2017 – stage 1 results (Bridlington – Scarborough):
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | 4:09:38 |
| 2 | Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 3 | Chris Opie (Bike Channel Canyon) | ,, |
| 4 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 5 | Steele Von Hoff (ONE) | ,, |
| 6 | Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 7 | Andre Looij (Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij) | ,, |
| 8 | Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) | ,, |
| 9 | Baptiste Planckaert (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 10 | Enrique Sanz (Raleigh GAC) | ,, |
