Tour de Yorkshire 2016: Stage 1
January 1 - May 1, Beverly, Yorkshire, Road - 2.1
Welcome to the Tour de Yorkshire and the riders are just minutes away from starting. It's cold out there and there is plenty of arm and leg warmers around.
Today's route will travel just south of the historic city of York and finish in Settle. There are a couple of tricky little climbs near the finish, which could split the peloton.
With the carnage behind, we've got five riders who have gone up the road but the peloton are chasing them.
It looks like Bradley Wiggins was caught up in that crash. He doesn't look hurt and he's making his way back to the bunch.
Up front, it is now six riders in the breakaway and it looks like the peloton are happy with this one. The gap is still very small though at only 13 seconds. We'll bring you the names as soon as we can.
178km remaining from 184km
The breakaway are edging clear and with 178km to go it has gone up to 47 seconds. The peloton is still quite small after that very early crash.
We have another rider from Raleigh trying to jump the gap but it is now up to 1:34 and it could be a struggle to make it.
The six riders in the break are Jens Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Pete Williams (One Pro Cycling), Sebastian Mora (Raleigh GAC), Matt Cronshaw (Madison Genisis), Nils Politt (Katusha), Graham Briggs (JLT Condor).
This week's race is probably a nice little bit of respite for British Cycling after a torrid week for the governing body. The latest news came last night with Simon Yates returning a positive test for an asthma medication. The team have said that it was down to an administrative error.
The gap continues to grow to the escapees, who now have 4:08 on the peloton. Team Sky are doing some management work on the front as are Direct Energie.
Pete Kennaugh is the rider doing all the work for Sky at the moment and with a cross headwind battering the peloton it is strung out. He got himself into a spot of bother yesterday with his comments about women's cycling. You can read about it here.
Kennaugh now has some help with Zandio moving up to the front. Direct Energie are looming just behind them.
Today should be a sprint stage, although the weather could have something to say about that. There are a few contenders for the victory including Orica-GreenEdge's Caleb Ewan. His fellow Australian Mark Renshaw could be up in the mix to, as could Roompot's Barry Markus and Giant-Alpecin's Nikias Arndt.
Eritrean Mekseb Debesay really looks like he isn't enjoying this sort of weather. Used to much hotter conditions at home, he's got most of his face covered up. Debesay is in his first season with Dimension Data and recently competed at the cobbled classics. He had a bit of a mishap at E3 Harelbeke when he abandoned and tried to take a shortcut to the finish but got lost. A helpful fan picked him up however.
The rain is absolutely hammering it down at the moment and the long sleeve jerseys are all coming back on. Grant Ferguson is having a few issues with his. It's in his mouth but the pace is to high for him to try and get it on.
As we mentioned earlier, it has been a bad week for British Cycling and yesterday UK sport issued a statement saying that they had asked BC to investigate reports that some of their kit had been sold on auction sites. You can read the story here.
44km remaining from 184km
The rain has stopped but this is Britain so the next shower could only be a few seconds away. With 14km to go, the gap has dropped down to 3:45.
Pete Williams went for an early tilt at the intermediate sprint but he faded near the line, allowing scratch race world champion Sebastian Mora to take full points.
An update on the distance to go. It is not 44km, they have not developed turbo speed just yet. It is actually 138 after that intermediate sprint.
Orica-GreenEdge has decided to put a man up front to help and it is King Lok Cheung who is setting the pace.
Cheung's teammate Simon Yates was caught up in a scandal overnight after returning a positive test. He wasn't due to race here but obviously the team are in Yorkshire and they have reacted angrily to the news being revealed but are backing Yates.
With things settled down in Yorkshire, let's take a closer look at some of the riders in the breakaway. First up in Sebastian Mora. As we mentioned earlier, he is the current scratch race champion - a title he won in London last month. He also claimed a bronze medal in the Madison too. He won gold in both events at the European championships last year.
There are a few track riders in the Raleigh team, including Morgan Kneiskey who won gold with Bryan Coquard at the 2015 World Championships.
Next we will take a look at Jens Wallays, who is the 23-year-old brother of Lotto-Soudal rider Jelle Wallays. He is a former under 23 Belgian champion in his second season with Topsport Vlaanderen and is yet to take his first victory as a professional.
122km remaining from 184km
The wind is certainly howling and it now pretty much a headwind. This is having an impact on the pace and they are running a little behind schedule.
The third man we'll look at in this breakaway is Pete Williams from One Pro Cycling. At 29, he is one of the most experienced riders in this escape. Williams began his team in 2008 with the Pinarello Racing Team. He's ridden for a range of Continental teams but this is the first time he's ridden at Pro Continental level. Williams recently finished second to his teammate at Tro Bro Leon.
Sky has now put the whole team on the front and the peloton is still in a long line. It's not been an easy day out there for anybody. Adam Yates has infiltrated the Sky train and ins in third wheel.
115km remaining from 184km
With the work that Sky is putting on the front of the peloton, the gap to the escapees has fallen down to 3:31.
Matt Cronshaw is the next rider that we're going to have a look at in that six-man breakaway. Cronshaw, now racing for Madison Genesis, is another veteran of the British scene.The 27-year-old is yet to win a race this year but has notched up at least one in ever year of his career.
After the early rain, the roads are starting to dry out but it is not yet warm enough for riders to consider taking their arm warmers off.
The penultimate rider in this break is the Katusha man Nils Politt. The 22-year-old German is making his debut at WorldTour level this season. He's had a solid start to his time with Katusha, taking 9th at the Three Days of De Panne last month.
Politt is a former under 23 national road race and time trial champion.
Bradley Wiggins sitting near the back of the bunch. He was caught up in that very early crash but seems ok. Wiggins is here for his team rather than having any ambitions. The track is his main focus.
There is plenty of other racing going on today and Jaime Roson has just won stage six of the Tour of Turkey.
Dimension Data has taken to the front of the bunch with Bernard Eisel. He last rode in Yorkshire during the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart.
The last of the escapees we'll take a look at is Graham Briggs. At 32, he is the oldest of the riders in the breakaway. He's been a dominant force on the domestic scene and a former national circuit race champion.
The Giro d'Italia is just a week away and we've put together a list of 10 riders to watch at the first Grand Tour of the year. You can find the full list here.
94km remaining from 184km
Lunch time for the peloton and the gap has dropped a touch to 3:19. Barnard Eisel is trying to get the warmth back into his arms by swinging them around like windmills.
90km remaining from 184km
Into the final 90km of racing and Eisel is now on the front of the bunch setting DImension Data.
The break continues to hold at 3'03 ahead of the peloton as the rain eases off for now.
The rain is coming down again and the jackets going back on. Nils Politt is having a few issues getting his zipped up at the back of the breakaway.
The deterioration in the weather has been matched by an increase in the advantage of the breakaway. The gap is now back up to four minutes to the six-man group.
75km remaining from 184km
The breakaway is approaching the one categorised climb for the day Greenhow Hill. It's only a short climb but it has some very steep sections on it and with the battering weather it may prove to be tougher than expected.
More on the Simon Yates positive test story. Matt Wilson, one of Orica-GreenEdge's DSs, says that it was an error in judgement that caused the situation. Read what he had to say here.
The change in the parcours has forced a split in the breakaway group. Wallays, Williams and Politt are in the front group. Mora, Cronshaw and Briggs are now 40 seconds back on the leaders.
70km remaining from 184km
Williams is probably the rider with the best sprint of that leading trio but they will have to make it stick. They've got 4:32 now with 70km still to go.
After a bit of a break, Pete Kennaugh has been sent back to the front of the peloton to try and bring the gap to the escapees down. There are no radios in this race, so they're relying on the timing updates from the bike.
The roads are becoming very narrow as they approach this climb too and that could cause some problems in the bunch. Positioning will be key because if you're too far back then you won't be able to react to any attacks.
The three leaders are on a descent now. It's narrow and a little twisty and the tarmac is still very wet so they are picking their way down.
65km remaining from 184km
Cronshaw is the next of the escapees to be brought back with the advantage to the three leaders falling to 3:35.
Mora had been left alone behind the break group but the Spaniard has brought him back and he is definitely a threat if this group makes it to the finish.
Bradley Wiggins dropped from the peloton. He's done for the day and will just be trying to make it to the finish.
A lot of movement in the peloton as the riders try and position themselves for this climb. Adam Yates is back at the front again, along with representatives from Sky, Orica, Katusha and NFTO are moving up en masse.
Williams has decided he's had enough and he takes a flyer just ahead of the climb. he's on it now with a small gap.
Williams is being brought back by the efforts of Mora and Politt. Wallays is still in the chasing group but hanging on the back.
This is an undulating climb and very hard to get a rhythm. Williams still has a small advantage though, but only just. Eisel leads the peloton onto the climb.
Fans are having to pin themselves to the walls as the peloton goes past. It's narrow and the riders want to use the whole road.
The road ramping up to one of it's steepest gradients to about 17 per cent. Williams has been brought back but the others are being dropped again. Mora was the first to crack and now Wallays is in trouble.
Politt and Williams are riding side by side. Politt is considerably bigger than Williams, which will be a disadvantage.
Williams doesn't look happy about Politt's atack and he starts gesticulating towards the German. There is still quite a way to the top of the climb so it was a strange time to go.
59km remaining from 184km
Wallays has dug deep and is back with the other two. Mora is now stuck in no man's land.
A problem for Pete Williams. He gets a bit too close to the back wheel of Politt and they touch. He almost goes down but manages to save it.
The pace of the bunch has really gone up and the advantage to the remaining leaders is just under a minute and a half.
Incidentally, Pete Williams was the mountains and sprint classification winner at last year's Tour of Britain after getting in quite a few of the breaks.
Away from Yorkshire and it was confirmed today that Alex Dowsett would not be riding the Giro d'Italia after he had to have an operation to remove the pins from his collarbone. Read the full story here.
54km remaining from 184km
We can now see the peloton and the break on almost the same bit of road. With 54km to go there is just 51 seconds separating the two groups.
Barnard Eisel getting frustrated after accidentally getting his jacket caught in his rear wheel as he waits to give it back to his team car.
Politt takes his gillet off but he's got nobody to hand it to so he shoves it in the back of his jersey. There are now no cars between the two groups.
More from the tough week that British Cycling has had and we've spoken to British Cycling's Bob Howden, who is at the Tour de Yorkshire today. Howden has said that he won't quit even if the allegations of sexism are found to be true.
The big climb of the day has been dispatched but there is still more climbing to come with an unclassified ascent about 13km from the finish.
48km remaining from 184km
The breakaway is almost done and it's only Pete Williams left with 38 seconds on the bunch. Stijn Steels and Adrien Moreno are trying to bridge across to him.
Josh Edmondson of NFTO is the next to attack from the group. He's got a lot of work to do on his own.
Williams has been caught by the three chasers and he will be happy to have some fres legs for company.
The pace in the bunch is obviously quite quick with the back of the peloton strung out and several riders losing touch.
Over in Swizerland, the Tour de Romandie stage 3 is nearing its close and race leader Nairo Quintana is out on the road for his time trial. We'll have those results for you as soon as that finishes.
39km remaining from 184km
Back in Yorkshire, Edmondson was briefly dropped from the break. He suffered a puncture during his chase but he's just made it back. They've only got a few seconds on the peloton.
It is still team Sky at the front with former Sky rider Bernard Eisel for company. The gap to the four escapees is just 21 seconds.
While the rain stopped a long time ago, the roads are still damp in patches and the riders will have to be careful.
Sky have suddenly turned up the wick and it immediately strings out the bunch. Just 15 seconds now for the escapees.
35km remaining from 184km
The road is really twisting and turning two, making it hard for riders further back in the peloton.
There are some high hedges lining the road so the peloton are getting a little bit of shelter from the conditions.
Sky still really pushing this very high pace and it's almost single file in the peloton. They've got a few options for today's sprint and they will want to try and get rid of riders such as Caleb Ewan but the Australian pocket rocket is still present and correct.
We're hearing news that Bradley Wiggins has abandoned the Tour de Yorkshire. He spent most of the day on the back of the bunch and was dropped almost immediately on the day's climb.
Wiggins' appearances on the road have been more show than anything else of late as he targets the track and the Olympic Games.
In Romandie, there has been a surprise result with Thibaut Pinot beating Tom Dumoulin by less than a second to take victory in the time trial. Pinot and the FDJ team have had a huge turn around in the time trials this year.
Chris Juul-Jensen has moved towards the front for Orica-GreenEdge, while Luke Rowe is doing the effort for Team Sky and the pace has knocked off a bit.
Back to Romandie and Pinot's victory is enough for the Frenchman to move into second overall while Nairo Quintana keeps the lead by 23 seconds.
It's still gruppo compatto for now with Juul Jansen and Rowe sharing the work. The group is much smaller after all those accelerations earlier.
20km remaining from 184km
20 kilometres to go and nobody seems willing to have a go. There is a small rise coming up and that could spark some sort of move.
This does look likely to end in a bunch sprint. As we said earlier Caleb Ewan is the stage favourite but other contenders could be his own teammate Luke Mazgec, Mark Renshaw, Andy Fenn, Dylan Groenewegen and Nikias Arndt.
Stephen Cumming has showed himself near the front of the bunch for the first time. Will he have a go and try to upset the sprinters?
After spending most of the day in the break, Pete Williams has just done a turn on the front for One Pro. Marcin Bialoblocki now take it up.
One Pro Cycling have Martin Mortensen in their line-up. Mortensen won Tro Bro Leon earlier this month, ahead of Williams.
The answer to our question about Cummings seems to be no. He is now back in his preferred position of the back of the bunch.
12km remaining from 184km
It's getting very busy at the front of the bunch. Orica-GreenEdge and One Pro have rival trains on either side of the road. Sky is sitting in the wheels of One Pro.
The peloton gets a look at the finish line for the first time as they begin the finishing loop. There is an intermediate sprint coming up first in about 2km time.
What we can tell from seeing the finish there is that it is quite technical and it's certainly not flat. There are a few lumps to contend with. Far from simple that finish.
The riders are racing into a headwind at the moment. It has not been an easy day for the riders which is why everything is running behind schedule for now. The race had been predicted to finish, at the latest, about 5 minutes ago.
8km remaining from 184km
Juul-Jensen leading the bunch on this small rider. It's not classified but it is managing to drop a few riders.
We're going to be given the full range of Voeckler faces now as he and Edet decide to continue their attack.
It's only a very small advantage for the pair. A quick name correction also, the Cofidis rider is Turgis not Edet.
5km remaining from 184km
Finally a time check and it is confirmed that Turgis and Voeckler have 12 seconds.
4km remaining from 184km
Cummings has now set off in chase of the two leaders. He came from right at the back of the bunch to make the attack and he has caught them.
Cummings waits for the briefest of moments before forging on alone. He keeps looking over his shoulder as the peloton is not that far behind.
3km remaining from 184km
Turgis and Voeckler were caught as Cummings attacked. The Dimension Data rider does not have much of a gap.
LottoNL-Jumbo are doing the chase as they turn into a headwind again. Cummings still holding them off, utilising his time trialling skils.
After a valiant effort, Cummings realises that he's not going to make it and he sits up to allow the peloton to pass.
Ewan got caught out in that final corner and was stuck behind Groenewegen. He managed to get out of his wheel but it was just too late.
The Tour de Yorkshire has been a good race for the Lotto team, who won a stage with Moreno Hofland in 2015.
Nikias Arndt was the third placed rider. After all that work from team Sky, Danny van Poppel could only manage sixth.
Here is the full top 10 from today's stage.
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 05:09:11
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
3 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
4 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
5 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
6 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
7 Christopher Lawless (GBr) JLT Condor
8 Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling
9 Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
10 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
Groenewegen had this so say at the finish.
"It was a very good job from the team. It was perfect and in the last corner I took the lead and I could win."
That is it from us today. Tune in tomorrow for stage 2.
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