Tanfield wins Tour de Yorkshire opener

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Harry Tanfield (Canyon-Eisberg) took a surprise win on the first stage of the Tour de Yorkshire in Doncaster, as the breakaway held off the peloton on what was expected to be a nailed-on sprint. Alistair Slater (JLT Condor) finished second, while Mike Cuming (Madison-Genesis) rounded off the podium.

Despite a full-throated effort from the peloton - including Team Sky, Dimension Data and Team Sunweb - the breakaway riders held their advantage into the final kilometres, even having time to play cat-and-mouse before launching their sprints for the line.

Emerson Oronte (Rally Cycling) opened it up, some 300 metres from the line, but it was Tanfield who picked the right wheel. The 23-year-old launched himself from behind Slater at just the right time to break down the middle and take the first victory at the race for a British Continental team.

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Yorkshire native Tanfield told of his surprise at the situation the break found themselves in as the kilometres ticked down.

"Everyone was committed to the finish," he said. "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."

Tanfield, who leads the points classification, leads the general classification by three seconds from Slater. The majority of the peloton, including most of the expected GC contenders, lies 19 seconds back.

How it unfolded

The first stage of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire was also the flattest, and most likely to end with a bunch sprint - back in 2016 the town of Beverley hosted the race start, with that stage seeing a sprint finish.

Heading largely southeast from the start, only one obstacle - the Côte de Baggaby Hill (1.9km at 4.6 per cent) - featured on the stage, coming at 89.5km. The last 90km to Doncaster were pan flat, with two sprints coming along the way - at Pocklington 89km from the finish and at Howden, 56.5km out.

The early stages of the day were raced at a rather sedate pace into a headwind, with the breakaway forming 15km after the start. Six riders made the move, quickly building up a five-minute gap.

Tanfield was joined in the break by Cuming, Slater, Tom Baylis (One Pro Cycling), Oronte and Axel Journiaux (Direct Energie).

Cuming took the first red climber's jersey of the race, beating Baylis on the line. Tanfield and Slater shared the spoils in the sprints, while back down the road the peloton edged ever closer.

Journiaux was the first to drop back from the break 18km from the line, while the remainder of the break put up more of a fight. The final five held a minute's advantage heading into the final 10km, with the gap still over 30 seconds with just 3km to run, despite the full force of the peloton behind.

It was too late for the WorldTour powerhouses, however, and with the breakaway still up the road as they passed the flamme rouge, all that was left to decide was which rider would take the spoils. 

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