Tour de Yorkshire: Danny van Poppel wins stage 2

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There was no doubt that the second day of the Tour de Yorkshire belonged completely to the Dutch, as Team Sky’s Danny van Poppel emulated compatriot Kirsten Wild by leading the bunch home in Doncaster. To add to the Dutch flavour, van Poppel edged out another young Dutchman, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), finishing just centimetres ahead of the stage 1 winner, who did at least have the consolation of holding onto the race leader’s blue jersey going into the final day.

The stage followed a very similar pattern to the women’s race a few hours earlier, with a small group holding a narrow advantage going into the final 20 kilometres only to be neutralised by the fast-moving bunch, where most of the GC favourites sat tight ahead of the very hilly final stage between Middlesbrough and Scarborough. Unfortunately, just like the women’s race, the men’s was also hit by technical issues that meant very little live coverage was possible.

The break went early and, as on day one, British riders were prominent in it. The home contingent comprised Richard Handley from ONE Pro Cycling, Edmund Bradbury and Josh Edmondson from NFTO, and Gruff Lewis from Madison-Genesis, with Michael Morkov from Katusha and Stijn Steels from Topsport Vlaanderen also part of the sextet.

Although Groenewegen was closing, van Poppel held on to win the battle of the 22 year olds and claim his first victory in Sky colours.

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