Stage 1 - Tour de Yorkshire

I’ve had one race day in the past six weeks, so t was nice to get some race pace back in my legs at the Tour de Yorkshire. Today was a sunny and dry, which meant many fans were lining the roads. The crowds at the Tour de Yorkshire are absolutely incredible, especially when you consider it’s a Thursday! I can’t wait to see what this weekend will look like...

Stage 1 was a bit uncharacteristic of what I’ve learned to expect at Yorkshire with mainly flat terrain. It was far less hilly than anything we saw last year.

Regardless, the roads here always seem quite heavy. So mix that with how long it’s been since I raced and I felt a little sluggish, but I could tell my legs were heading in the right direction and I expect I’ll improve over the days to come.

The big thing at today’s race was the break stayed away. I was surprised that happened, but they earned it. We never slowed down once the sprinter’s teams began to ride. I’m not sure how it looked on TV, but I think the decisive moment came in the final few kilometers when we could see the break. Typically, a break will start to attack itself, play games and look at each other, but this group was committed and went all in. It’s a testament to the mentality of the smaller teams.

Tomorrow is clearly a big day for the overall GC with the uphill finish. I have never seen this climb, so it’s hard to know how selective it will be. Either way, it looks like a great finish for Greg, so we will look to set him up for a good one.

📷 Photo Chris Auld Photography