Tour de Yorkshire: Groenewegen powers to victory in opening stage
LottoNl-Jumbo sprinter beats Ewan and Arndt
Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) took victory on the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire, getting the better of a boxed-in Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) in the sprint finish in Settle.
The Dutchman, whose teammates had shut down a solo move from Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data) just ahead of the flamme rouge, went left as he came round Niklas Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) – who finished third – to open his sprint, leaving the young Australian Ewan with no room to get round.
Groenewegen pulled on the first blue leader’s jersey of the 2016 race for his efforts and, thanks to bonus seconds, he leads the overall by four seconds over Ewan ahead of the repeat sprint showdown expected on Saturday.
“It was very good lead-out from my team. It was perfect; the last corner I took the lead and I could hold it to the finish. I’m very happy with this win, it’s very good for me and the team,” said Groenewegen.
“I think not,” he said when asked if there was any chance bonus seconds could help him mount a bid for the overall. “I go for it tomorrow then Sunday it’s for Steven [Kruijswijk] and Primoz [Roglic].”
The north of England served up its unique cocktail of hills, grippy roads and grim weather on the 183km trip from Beverley to Settle. Despite the adverse conditions, with driving rain and winds of around 35km/h, and headwind for the most part, it was a relatively contained affair.
Six riders went up the road early on and they were kept on a four-minute leash for much of the day thanks mostly to the efforts of Team Sky, who only had Danny van Poppel’s sixth place to show for it. Once on the final circuit inside the final 15km, the French duo of Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) and Anthony Turgis (Cofidis) enjoyed a few kilometres solo, before Cummings launched his threatening late move, but there were enough teams and numbers to ensure the bunch sprint.
How it happened
Almost as soon as the flag had dropped, so had many of the riders. There was a big crash in the early stages and though no one was seriously affected, a group of breakaway hopefuls managed to forge clear before order had been restored.
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) were the escape artists and they soon had four minutes as Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) was sent to the front to assume policing duties, and he stayed there for some time.
He was joined by teammate Xavier Xandio and later by Orica’s King Lok Cheung, and it was a big effort just to keep things under control, with the peloton strung out into a line as the riders battled a 34km/h headwind and driving rain. Bernard Eisel was an increasingly prominent figure at the front in the final 100km as riders grappled with gilets and rain jackets in the ever-changing conditions.
With 70km to go, Wallays, Williams and Politt used the rolling terrain to dispose of their breakaway companions and they battled it out for the KOM points on the Côte de Greenhow Hill – where Williams came out on top convincingly. After that, though, they were brought back by the bunch and, after a couple of counter attacks, it was all together and under control in the last 30km
At the intermediate sprint in Giggleswick, Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) attacked in search of three relatively easy bonus seconds but he was followed and passed by compatriot Anthony Turgis (Cofidis). That duo then enjoyed a tailwind as they managed to hold of the bunch into the final 5km but it was Cummings who then rolled the dice. After a few moments of hesitation and panic, Lotto brought him back under the flamme rouge and put Groenewgen in a good position for the sprint. They were brought back but Steve Cummings was already on the attack and he rolled the dice. He had a handful of seconds going into the final couple of kilometres and after a moment of panic, LottoNL-Jumbo turned up the pace and brought it back together underneath the flamme rouge.
Karol Domagalski (ONE Pro) led it out but Groenewegen came past from third with a strong surge of pace. Ewan, the pre-race favourite, was on his wheel and will be left to wonder what might have been if he’d had space to take on the Dutchman.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 5:09:11 |
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 | |
11 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
12 | Magnus Cort (Den) Orica-GreenEdge | |
13 | Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge | |
14 | Tom Stewart (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
15 | Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
16 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky | |
17 | Huub Duijn (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
18 | Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor | |
19 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie | |
20 | Loïc Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
21 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | |
22 | Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
23 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
24 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
25 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha | |
26 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
27 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data | |
28 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie | |
29 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
30 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky | |
31 | Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
32 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
33 | Mark Christian (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
34 | Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
35 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
36 | Ian Bibby (GBr) NFTO | |
37 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | |
38 | Lars van der Haar (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
39 | Alberto Losada (Spa) Team Katusha | |
40 | Steve Lampier (GBr) JLT Condor | |
41 | James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) NFTO | |
42 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
43 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie | |
44 | Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
45 | Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
46 | Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor | |
47 | Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Great Britain | |
48 | Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha | |
49 | Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
50 | Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
51 | Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge | |
52 | Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha | |
53 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
54 | Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
55 | Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor | |
56 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
57 | Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
58 | Matt Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
59 | Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data | |
60 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
61 | Edmund Bradbury (GBr) NFTO | |
62 | Richard Handley (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
63 | Liam Holohan (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
64 | Stijn Steels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
65 | Dale Appleby (GBr) NFTO | |
66 | Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
67 | Alexandre Blain (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
68 | Aimé Degendt (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
69 | Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
70 | Conor Dunne (Irl) JLT Condor | |
71 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | |
72 | Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling | |
73 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
74 | Jérémy Cornu (Fra) Direct Energie | |
75 | Martin Mortensen (Den) ONE Pro Cycling | |
76 | James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
77 | Tom Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
78 | Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
79 | Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
80 | Stephen Williams (GBr) JLT Condor | |
81 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
82 | Rhys Lloyd (GBr) NFTO | |
83 | Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha | 0:00:26 |
84 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:00:32 |
85 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:00:36 |
86 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:38 |
87 | Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha | 0:00:46 |
88 | Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:01:11 |
89 | Joshua Edmondson (GBr) NFTO | 0:01:12 |
90 | Adria Moreno Sala (Spa) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
91 | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie | |
92 | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data | 0:01:20 |
93 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:01:23 |
94 | Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
95 | Evan Oliphant (GBr) Team Raleigh–GAC | 0:01:38 |
96 | Tristan Robbins (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
97 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin | 0:02:55 |
98 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data | |
99 | Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
100 | Nils Politt (Ger) Team Katusha | |
101 | Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) NFTO | |
102 | Robert Partridge (GBr) NFTO | |
103 | Sam Lowe (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
104 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | |
105 | Ivar Slik (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | 0:03:12 |
106 | Sebastian Mora (Spa) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
107 | Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Great Britain | |
108 | Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | 0:04:24 |
109 | Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky | 0:05:43 |
110 | Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky | |
111 | King Lok Cheung (HKg) Orica-GreenEdge | |
112 | Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
113 | Jens Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
114 | Chris Opie (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
115 | Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis | 0:06:34 |
116 | Grant Ferguson (GBr) Great Britain | 0:08:26 |
117 | Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin | 0:10:44 |
118 | Michael O'Loughlin (Irl) Team WIGGINS | |
119 | Marc De Maar (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
120 | André Looij (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
121 | Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie | |
122 | George Pym (GBr) Team Raleigh–GAC | |
123 | Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain | |
124 | Matt Cronshaw (GBr) Madison Genesis | |
125 | Iain Paton (GBr) Great Britain | 0:12:14 |
126 | Joseph Fry (GBr) Great Britain | 0:14:33 |
127 | Mark Stewart (GBr) Great Britain | 0:16:38 |
128 | Daniel Patten (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
129 | Barry Markus (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | 0:19:16 |
130 | Richard Hepworth (GBr) Team Raleigh–GAC | 0:20:14 |
131 | Ruben Pols (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
132 | Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor | |
133 | Khalid Ibrahim (GBr) Great Britain | 0:21:31 |
DNF | Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
DNF | Scott Davies (GBr) Team WIGGINS | |
DNF | Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Sven Erik Byström (Nor) Team Katusha |

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