Lars Petter Nordhaug retains overall race lead
Saturday 2 May 2015 17:45, UK
The Netherlands’ Moreno Hofland sprinted to victory on stage two of the Tour de Yorkshire in York as Team Sky’s Lars Petter Nordhaugh retained the overall race lead.
Hofland handed LottoNL-Jumbo their first win of the season by beating Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) into second place and Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Alpecin) into third after the 174km day came down to a bunch finish.
Nordhaug crossed the line in the peloton to preserve his four-second lead at the top of the general classicification over second-placed Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), with Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) remaining two seconds further back in third.
Hofland said: “It was a big breakaway so we had to spend all of our guys chasing it back. I was in the wheel of Pelucchi and I knew that was a good wheel. I waited for the sign of 200 [metres remaining] or something like that and with speed I passed him and I won.
“The crowds are not normal. We were riding through villages and there were people three and four rows thick. It was really cool to ride.”
The stage started in Selby and only came down to a sprint after the last man from the day's eight-rider breakaway, Bert de Backer (Giant-Alpecin), had been caught with around 950m remaining.
Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing) immediately attacked and opened up a narrow lead, but he was unable to hold off the charging sprinters and was passed in the final 100m as Hofland surged to his first win since last October.
Sir Bradley Wiggins (WIGGINS) finished in a group six seconds behind the peloton in 90th place.
The three-day race ends on Sunday with a hilly 167km third stage from Wakefield to Leeds containing six categorised climbs.
Earlier on Saturday, Louise Mahe won the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire women's race in a photo finish in York. The IKON-Mazda rider edged out Eileen Roe (Wiggle Honda) and Katie Curtis (Pearl Izumi) by a matter of inches after four laps of the 20km circuit.
Stage two result
1 Moreno Hofland (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, 3:57:58
2 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling, same time
3 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, st
4 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing, st
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton, st
6 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton, st
7 Russell Downing (GB) Cult Energy Pro Cycling, st
8 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka, st
9 Harry Tanfield (GB) JLT Condor, st
10 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, st
General classification
1 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky, 8:20:26
2 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar, +4secs
3 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, +6
4 Samuel Sanchez (Esp) BMC Racing, +10
5 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky, same time
6 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, +1:18
7 Greg van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, +1:20
8 Erick Rowsell (GB) Madison Genesis, st
9 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing, +1:23
9 Richard Handley (GB) JLT Condor, +1:26
