April 30/17 20:06 pm - Tour of Yorkshire

Posted by Editoress on 04/30/17
 

Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) took his first pro victory at the end of a gruelling third stage. The Belgian opened up a gap on the final few climbs and crossed the finish line ahead of teammate Omar Fraile. Pauwels with his win claimed the overall in the third edition of the Tour de Yorkshire.

Bradford Dyed in the Wool with Cycling
It felt like the Tour de France before the start in Bradford. Although the sun rising over the nearby city of Leeds played a part, the atmosphere came mainly from the huge crowds that came out to cheer on the heroes of the Tour de Yorkshire. The 123-strong peloton rolled out of the city at 12:29 pm, ready to tackle a queen stage that featured no fewer than 8 climbs.

Five and Two
The peloton started the stage like a bat out of hell. It took 12 kilometres for a five-man breakaway to form, with Hayman (ORS), Lammertink (TLJ), McEvoy (MGT), Williams (ONE) and Gardias (BIK) powering away from the bunch. Smukulis (DMP) and Weening (RNL) bridged across to the leading group at km 29, with the peloton 3:30 back. The gap between the seven-man group and the bunch continued to grow and hit 4:30 at km 39.

Fans Turn Out in Force
Weening was the first rider over Côte de Silsden, the first climb of the day (km 64), with the difference to the peloton still unchanged. Weening was also first over Côte de Haworth (km 76), while Gardias crowned the Côte de Leeming (km 83) ahead of the rest. A flat tire 90 km into the stage made Williams the first rider to lose contact with the lead group. Weening took a further 4 mountain points at the top of Shibden Wall (km 98), where a huge number of fans lined the road. Meanwhile, the peloton was gradually inching closer at 3¢10≤ and had already caught Williams.

The End of the Beginning
Hayman beat Smukulis and McEvoy to the first intermediate sprint of the day in Clifton (km 108). The peloton, just three minutes behind the leaders, kept creeping closer under the impulse of Dimension Data, Sky and Direct Énergie. Gardias was soon dropped and drifted back into the bunch at km 143. The remaining five riders held out until km 167.

Bouhanni Hits the Deck
Nacer Bouhanni (COF) crashed on a descent shortly before the four-climb stage finale. The crash left the winner of stage 2 seriously rattled and forced him to withdraw. Race leader Caleb Ewan (ORS) was next to be dropped on Côte de Deepcar (km 178), as a 30-man group without defending champion Thomas Voeckler formed at the front. Rosskopf (BMC) was first over the top. Côte de Wigtwizzle (km 183) whittled down the group to just about 20 riders.

Pauwels Caps the Dimension Data Show
Shortly after crowning Côte de Ewden Height (km 185) in first place ahead of Pacher (DMP) and Fraile (DDD), Serge Pauwels (DDD) went on the attack under 10 km before the line. The Belgian went over Côte de Midhopestones (km 189), the last difficulty of the day, with 15s over the chasing group. Teammate Omar Fraile made it across to Pauwels under the flamme rouge, but it was the Belgian who raised his arms in Fox Valley-Sheffield ahead of the delighted Spaniard. Hivert counter-attacked from the group to take third place.

Pauwels Opens His Account in Style
It was the first pro win for Pauwels, who had finished second in a stage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia and again second in the Mont Ventoux stage of last year's Tour de France. The 33-year-old won the general classification of the Tour de Yorkshire ahead of Fraile and Hivert thanks to his stage win. Australia's Caleb Ewan took home the green points jersey, while Peter Weening was crowned best climber of the third edition of the race.

ASO press release