The breakaway held on to claim a surprise victory on stage one at the Tour de Yorkshire despite the best efforts of the peloton.
Six riders pushed clear up the road out of Beverley and worked well together to carve out a strong advantage. Despite a full-throated effort from the peloton, the break still held a gap of one minute and 10 seconds heading into the final 10km, and at the finish in Doncaster it was Harry Tanfield (Canyon Eisberg) who out-sprinted his rivals to claim victory, crossing the finish line ahead of Alastair Slater (JLT Condor) and Michael Cumming (Madison Genesis).
As has become a tradition in Yorkshire, superb crowds again lined the 182km route, with the action set to continue with a summit finish atop Ilkley’s Cow and Calf on Friday.
“Everyone was committed to the finish,” said Tanfield, the first Briton to win a stage at Tour de Yorkshire. “When we saw the 3km sign on the road, we looked around and couldn’t see the peloton anywhere, so I was like ‘let’s ride.'”
“I wouldn’t really call it a sprint. It was more like a time trial to the line,” Tanfield added. “Everyone was gassed and it was a bit of a headwind. I just went straight up the middle and had time to get my hands in the air, so I can’t complain.”
Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – stage 1 results (Beverley – Doncaster):
| 1 | Harry Tanfield (Canyon Eisberg) | 4:08:12 |
| 2 | Alistair Slater (JLT Condor) | ,, |
| 3 | Michael Cuming (Madison Genesis) | ,, |
| 4 | Emerson Oronte (Rally Cycling) | ,, |
| 5 | Thomas Baylis (One Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 6 | Max Walscheid (Team Sunweb) | +05” |
| 7 | Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept Club) | ,, |
| 8 | Emils Liepins (One Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 9 | Colin Joyce (Rally Cycling) | ,, |
| 10 | Riccardo Minali (Astana) | ,, |
