Tour de Yorkshire: Magnus Cort wins stage 2

Image 1 of 14

Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) won the second stage of the Tour de Yorkshire on Friday, prevailing on the hilltop finish in Ilkley. He beat Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) into second place with a well-timed sprint, while Eduard Prades (Euskadi-Murias) took third.

It was something of a sprint in slow-motion, with the contenders coming to the fore late in the climb. Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) took up the reins in the final kilometre, before Van Avermaet flew past 300 metres from the line. But Cort Nielsen got his timing just a little better - enough to overhaul the Belgian and claim his second victory of the season.

"It's really a tough stage today and actually I thought the finish would be too hard for me," Cort Nielsen said after the stage. "The team had big belief in me and I really have to thank them for supporting me."

"I thought [Van Avermaet] was the man to beat. I knew I would be quick so I was just hoping for no big attacks and then I could open up in the final 150 metres," he added. "We will try everything [for overall victory] - I believe if I can win here it's possible but there's still a long way to go."

Cort Nielsen is the new overall leader, four seconds ahead of Van Avermaet and six ahead of Prades.

How it unfolded

After a shock breakaway victory in Thursday's opener, stage two looked to signal the beginning of the GC battle. Three categorised climbs lay in wait on the 149km route from Barnsley to Ilkley, with the hilltop finish on the Côte de Cow and Calf (1.8km at 8.2 per cent) set up to give the race a new overall leader.

Along the way came two intermediate sprints - at Swinton after 41.5km, and at Scholes after 104km. The first obstacle of a lumpy day was the Côte de Blacker Hill (1.6km at 5.8 per cent), coming after 29km. Then, at 18km from the line, the Côte de Old Pool Bank (1km at 10 per cent) served as a leg softener ahead of the finale.

Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Ben Swift (Great Britain) were notable names in the early break of the day, but they were never allowed more than 20 seconds during their 40km sojourn, with the peloton wiser after the events of stage one.

Fourth overall in 2015, Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) felt confident enough to launch a solo counter-attack soon after. He was later joined by Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi-Murias), Tom Baylis (One Pro Cycling) and Tobyn Horton (Madison-Genesis) as the peloton slowed up, happy with the break's composition.

The quartet worked well together, their gap topping out at 2:30 before the peloton began to up the pace. A mistake from the lead organiser's car didn't help matters, taking the break off-route and costing them over 30 seconds.

Rossetto was the last man standing from the break, swallowed up on the Côte de Old Pool Bank 18km from the finish. The double-digit slopes slimmed the peloton down to around 60 riders, with Jacob Scott (One Pro Cycling) launching a late attack ahead of the final climb.

Scott was caught 2km from the line as the red tide of BMC and Cofidis led the way at the head of the peloton. After a brief intervention from One Pro Cycling on the lower slopes of the climb, Pauwels and then Van Avermaet took command. But it was Cort Nielsen who came to the fore at the right time, launching to victory 150 metres from the line.

Results