A controlled, stifling lesson in how to lead a race by Team Sky brought Lars Petter Nordhaug overall victory in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, despite Ben Hermans’ impressive and ultimately triumphant late attack on stage 3 to Leeds. The other winners, undoubtedly, were the fans, who turned out in extraordinary numbers just like they did for the Tour de France Grand Départ last year (750.000 spectators today, 1.5 million in total during the 3 days), for the denouement of a race which, after just one edition, has already established itself as one of the highlights of the international cycling calendar.
Voeckler’s early move foiled
As if a gruelling route through the moors of West Yorkshire didn’t suffice to make the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire a daunting prospect for the 131 riders left in the race, cold drizzle throughout the morning had brought the promise of more misery and - for the spectators - more entertainment. By the time the flag went down, though, the rain had stopped and the stars of the peloton were doing their best to raise the temperature. As early as the ninth kilometre, 23 riders had jumped away, but presence among them of Thomas Voeckler, the third-placed rider on general classification, provoked an instant reaction from the main bunch and disharmony in the breakaway.
Seven stay clear
Seven of the 23 did manage to pull clear after 27 kilometres and start to build an advantage, now with the peloton’s blessing: Craddock (Giant Alpecin), Enger (IAM), Edet (Cofidis), Janse Van Rensburg (MTN), Quaade (Cult), McLaughlin (Madison-Genesis) and Bibby (NFTO). By the time that Bibby led over the summit of Holmfirth (km 40), their advantage was 3’45” over a main bunch driven by Lars Petter Nordhaug’s Sky team. Bibby, now sensing his chance to stage a late coup in the King of the Mountains competition, was also the first rider over the Côte de Hebden Bridge (km 95).
Franco-American alliance makes headway
Apparently unhappy with the pace of his six breakaway companions, Lawson Craddock attacked early on the Côte de Goose Eye (km 110). Edet promptly gave chase from behind. The Frenchman would join Craddock just beyond the Goose Eye summit. Four and a half minutes back, Voeckler’s Europcar team briefly accelerated in an attempt to put Sky under pressure, but the British team quickly regained control - possibly to the relief of prime minister David Cameron, who was among the spectators in Addingham (km 123). With 37 kilometres remaining, the last of the five escapees left behind by Craddock and Edet, the Norwegian Enger, was finally mopped up by the main peloton. Helpfully for his countryman Nordhaug, Enger had snaffled the last bonus second available at the intermediate sprint in Ilkley.
Edet seals KOM title, Craddock takes flight
When they hit the lower slopes of the Cow & Calf, 35 kilometres from home, Craddock and Edet’s advantage began to tumble. An attack from Josh Edmondson (GBR) halfway up the climb helped to drag the main peloton to within just over two minutes of the lead duo.
On the approach to the final classified climb of the race, the formidable Côte de Chevin, BMC riders swarmed to the front, infiltrating the Team Sky train. The rain had now returned, making the roads treacherous. Of greater concern to Edet was picking up the final King of the Mountains points of the race to seal victory in that competition, which he duly did at the top of the Côte de Chevin. Meanwhile, back down the climb, Sky regained total control.
For the next ten kilometres. Craddock and Edet managed to hold their lead at just over one minute, until Craddock rode away from the Frenchman on the steep, unclassified climb in Arthington (km 151.5). A counter attack from Gustav Larsson (CLT) was swept up on the same sharp rise, moments before Lars Petter Nordhaug took the final bonus second at the last intermediate sprint of the Tour.
Hermans makes his move, Nordhaug stands firm
Before the ten-kilometre-to-go mark, Steven Cummings (MTN) and Steven Kruijswijk (TLJ) both tried their luck, but didn’t gain more than a few hundred metres over Nordhaug et al. Ben Hermans (BMC) fared better, attacking just over nine kilometres from home, then catching and immediately dropping Craddock with 4.5 kilometres to ride. The Belgian, a recent winner of the Brabantse Pijl, then forged on to win alone, ahead of a group led over the line by his BMC team-mate Greg Van Avermaet.
Lars Petter Nordaug’s sixth place on the stage was enough to bring him overall victory by 11 seconds over Samuel Sanchez and Thomas Voeckler. Racing on home roads, Team Sky had also claimed their sixth stage race victory of the 2015 season.
