Cycling is flourishing in Great Britain and gradually the country is getting a racing calendar that matches the huge success their riders have had in recent years. After the hugely successful Tour de France grand depart in Yorkshire, the ambitious local committee decided to build on the legacy by creating the three-day Tour de Yorkshire which is ready for its second year after a hugely successful premiere and has again attracted a great line-up.

 

In recent years, the likes of Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas have made Great Britain a real powerhouse in professional cycling but the big stars haven’t had many opportunities to ride in front of their home fans on an annual basis. For several years, the only major event in the country had been the Tour of Britain which has become a great preparation event for the World Championships.

 

The tides are changing though. After the successful road race at the 2012 Olympics, the RideLondon Classic was created as a way to build on the legacy from that event and just two years later, the country hosted one of the most successful grand departs ever when massive crowds greeted the Tour de France for two days of racing in Yorkshire and a third stage with a finish in London.

 

The Grand Depart was made possible by a very ambitious local committee led by Gary Verity and they were keen to use the momentum to turn the county into one of cycling’s hotbed. The means was the three-day Tour de Yorkshire and they manage to persuade ASO to get involved in the project.

 

Last year the race made its debut and it was a huge success. Again large crowds came out to welcome the strong field of riders that treated them with three days of aggressive racing. The positive reception proved that the race has a huge potential and the organizers have big plans to turn it into a WorldTour race and extend it to four days of racing. The plans for the latter had to be postponed as British Cycling refused the request for 2016 but there is little doubt that the event will grow in the future.

 

The purpose of the race is to promote Yorkshire as one of the greatest cycling regions in Europe and encourage more people to start cycling. The hilly terrain in the county is perfect for riding a bike and created excellent and aggressive racing on stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France and in the first edition of the race.

 

There are no major mountains in Yorkshire but the many short, steep climbs make it a perfect race for strong classics riders and with its position on the calendar in early May, it’s a good opportunity for the Ardennes specialists to try to benefit from their good one form one final time before they take their first small break. At the same time, there are enough flat roads to give the sprinters a chance and this means that it’s a possible option for the fast finishers that are getting ready for the Giro.

 

Being the big British team, Sky will always be the big favourite for the race and they managed to take the win in the first edition. Having won the hard first stage, Lars Petter Nordhaug defended his lead in the final two stages and won the race with an 11-second advantage over Samuel Sanchez and Thomas Voeckler.

 

The course

The inaugural edition of the race only offered the sprinters one chance on day 2 while the race was bookended by hilly stages for classics riders.  For 2016, the organizers have opted for an easier course where the sprinters are likely to have their say in the first two stages while the GC will be decided in a hilly final stage. The toughest stage is pretty similar to the opening stage that largely decided last year’s race.

 

Stage 1

After last year’s very hard opener, the first stage will be a lot easier in 2016. The race will kick off in Beverly and then the riders will travel over 185 mostly flat kilometres to the finish in Settle. At the 127km, there’s the small climb of Greenhow Hill (2.8km, 8.6%) but apart from that, there aren’t any major challenges. In the end, the riders will do two laps of 12km finishing circuit that includes a small climb in the early part but it has a flat finale. There’s an intermediate sprint at the top of the small climb just 9km from the line and this could be a chance for the GC riders to pick up bonus seconds. The first sprint comes at the 45.5km mark.

 

The wind can always come into play in Great Britain but unless it’s very windy, the sprinters will be keen to go for the first leader’s jersey in the race. Hence, the opening stage is likely to be decided in a bunch sprint while the GC riders will have to keep an eye on bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints.

 

 

 

 

Stage 2

The sprinters should be in action on the second day too as the 135.5km from Otley to Doncaster are mainly flat. Early in the stage, the riders will tackle the Harewood (1.2km, 5%) and East Rigton (0.4km, 8.2%) climbs while the Conisbrugh Castle climb (0.5km, 6.5%) comes with 38.5km to go. Apart from that, there aren’t any major challenges in this part of Yorkshire. There will be intermediate sprints at the 25.5km and 94.5km marks.

 

Like in stage 1, only the wind has the potential to deny the fast riders a chance to sprint for the win in Doncaster and it should be a controlled affair. The intermediate sprints are unlikely to come into play in this stage unless one team tries to keep things together in the first 25km. Hence, the battle for GC will be postponed until the final stage.

 

 

 

 

Stage 3

After two days for the sprinters, everything will be decided in the final stage which brings the riders over 198km from Middlesbrough to Scarborough. After a flat start, the riders will contest the first intermediate sprint at the 52km mark before they start the climbing action at the Sutton Bank climb (1.4km, 12%) after 62km of racing. Then a flat section leads to the climb of Blakery Ridge (4.8km, 4.5%) before the steep Grosmont climb (2.2km, 10.8%) will come as a tough challenge with 57km to go.

 

After the second sprint at the 144.5km mark, the riders will tackle three climbs inside the final 50km. Robin Hood’s Bay (1.5km, 10.3%) is located with 42.5km to go and is followed by Harwood Dale (1.3km, 7.4%) 28km from the finish. The final challenge is Oliver’s Mount (0.8km, 6.4%) with 8.5km to go and then it’s a downhill and flat run to the finish.

 

The total amount of climbing is 2593m and there are several uncategorized climbs on the narrow, twisty roads. The stage is very similar to the hard opening stage of last year’s race and it could have a very similar outcome. If that’s the case, it will be a reduced group of Ardennes specialists that gets to the final climbs. This year there are more launch pads in the finale and this means that there is a better chance for a solo rider to arrive at the finish like Lars Petter Nordhaug did 12 months ago.

 

 

 

 

The favourites

The inaugural edition of the Tour de Yorkshire was very selective as the peloton split to pieces on the opening stage. The stage may have looked innocuous on paper but it turned out to be a really brutal affair. The final stage also created some differences and the race became an affair for Ardennes specialists, with the sprinters only having one chance.

 

This year’s course is easier and the first two stages seem to be for the sprinters. Everything will be decided in the final stage which is pretty similar to the opening stage of last year’s race. It includes some of the same climbs, most notably the steep Robin Hood’s Bay. That climb now comes a bit farther from the finish but unlike last year it won’t be the final challenge. The run-in to Scarborough is lumpier and there is even a climb inside the final 10km.

 

Much will depend on how much the field split before and on Robin Hood’s Bay. The final part of the stage seems to be manageable for the strong sprinters so if the race haven’t blown to pieces at that point, those riders will have a chance as it will be possible to control things for a reduced bunch sprint. However, if the peloton splits as much as it did last year, the lumpier finale means that the Ardennes riders will have an even better chance to make a difference and this means that sprinting skills will be less important.

 

The weather will play a big role as it always does in Great Britain. At the moment it seems that there can be a bit of rain every day but only Friday is forecasted to be windy. The peloton could actually split up here so it will be important to have a strong team to avoid any unnecessary time loss in a stage that could suddenly become important.

 

Last year the race was won by an Ardennes rider as Lars Petter Nordhaug came out on top. He is not a fast rider but he managed to make a solo attack in the finale of the hardest stage. With the key stage being similar to the one that featured last year, the race should suit a similar kind of rider. A fast finish is definitely no disadvantage but as said sprinting skills will be slightly less important. Furthermore, it will be very important to have a strong team that can have multiple cards to play in the finale of stage 3. Last year Nordhaug benefited a lot from having Phil Deignan at his side and team tactics can become crucial if a small group end up deciding the race.

 

The big team is of course Team Sky who go into the race with a formidable team. Their plan will be to make the race hard in the queen stage as they are likely to have strength in numbers if the race splits to pieces. This makes it even more likely that the race will become selective. BMC, Cofidis and Katusha also have strong teams that will benefit from a tough race so we expect the race to be similar to what we had last year.

 

In the finale of stage 3, Sky could potentially have Lars Petter Nordhaug, Gianni Moscon, Nicolas Roche and Peter Kennaugh ready to go for the win and we will put our money on the young Italian. Moscon has had a remarkable neo-pro season and has been up there in every terrain. He was there deep into the finale at Paris-Roubaix where he worked for Stannard and Rowe, he finished on the podium when he got a rare chance to ride for himself in the very hilly Coppi e Bartali and he played a key role for Mikel Landa in Trentino last week.

 

The main question is whether Moscon is still fresh after a long season but he looked solid in Trentino. He is very good on short, steep climb and in the Sky team he has the best sprint. With that team likely to have strength in numbers, they can set things up for their fast Italian and so he is our favourite to win the race.

 

Lars Petter Nordhaug is the defending champion and he is the in-form Sky rider at the moment. He looked strong both Amstel Gold Race and Liege and he seems to be just as strong as he was last year. This year he even has a better team at his side and he will have a harder finale of stage 3 where he can attack on the last climb. It’s definitely not impossible for him to ride to escape here and with a team to block the chase, he could very well make it two in a row here.

 

Julien Simon finished 12th last year but he should have done much better. This race suits him down to the ground as he climbs well in this terrain and among the Ardennes specialists he is one of the fastest. He showed good form in Fleche Wallonne but had bad luck to crash in the finale of Liege-Bastogne-Liege. After a slow start to the season, the form seems to be there and if stage 3 comes down to a sprint from a group of Ardennes specialists, he will be the man to beat.

 

This race is tailor-made for Peter Kennaugh who climbs well in this terrain and has a fast sprint. However, the British champion had to skip the Ardennes classics as he fell ill just before Amstel Gold Race. Everything depends on his recovery but if he is back at 100%, he will be one of the best Sky cards. Nicolas Roche is also a solid option as he is one of the best climbers here and has a decent sprint.

 

Dimension Data will be led by Stephen Cummings who seems to be stronger than ever before. He has already won two WorldTour races this year and he was very strong in both Fleche and Liege. If he is not caught out due to lazy positioning, he should be there in the finale of stage 1 and then he will be ready to attack from a small group of favourites. If he gets just the smallest gap, he won’t be brought back.

 

Rohan Dennis shares many of the same characteristics but unlike Cummings he is even pretty punchy and fast in a sprint. However, the Australian has barely raced this year and is coming back from illness so it remains to be seen what kind of form he has.

 

Warren Barguil is probably the in-form rider at the moment. The Frenchman was excellent in the Ardennes where he was in the top 10 in both Liege and Fleche. He is probably the best climber here so he could ride away on the final climb in stage 3. However, he is not strong on the flats so it will be hard to stay away.

 

This race suits Adam Yates really well as he is one of the best in hilly one-day races and has a fast sprint. However, he seemed to be riding very poorly in the Ardennes so his form is probably not very good.

 

In addition to Dennis, BMC can play the cards of Loic Vliegen and Ben Hermans. However, Vliegen no longer has the excellent form he had a few weeks ago and Hermans has not been at his best this year.

 

Cofidis have Simon but have an excellent team of climbers. Romain Hardy, Rudy Molard, Anthony Turgis, Yoann Bagot, Stephane Rossetto and Nicolas Edet are all climbing well enough to be up there in the finale of stage 3. That could give the team cards to play. Molard seems to be the in-form rider at the moment while Hardy is benefited by a fast sprint.

 

Thomas Voeckler did well in this race 12 months ago and you can never rule him out in a race that suits him well. We are also curious to see what Owain Doull can do after his excellent podium place at the Tour of Britain. As he can climb and sprint, the race suits him down to the ground. Unfortunately, he was forced to abandon the Tour of Croatia on stage 2 so his condition is very uncertain.

 

As said, the strong sprinters may have a chance if the race doesn’t split in the hilliest part of stage 3. In that case, it is worth to keep an eye on Danny Van Poppel, Luka Mezgec, Nikias Arndt, Russell Downing who can all survive climbs like these.

 

UPDATE: Barguil is sick and won't start

 

***** Gianni Moscon

**** Lars Petter Nordhaug, Julien Simon

*** Peter Kennaugh, Nicolas Roche, Stephen Cummings, Warren Barguil, Adam Yates

** Ben Hermans, Rohan Dennis, Romain Hardy, Rudy Molard, Thomas Voeckler, Owain Doull

* Danny Van Poppel, Luka Mezgec, Nikias Arndt, Russell Downing, Pieter Weening, Serge Pauwels, Primoz Roglic, Nicolas Edet, Stephane Rossetto, Anthony Turgis, Steven Kruijswijk, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Tiago Machado, Lilian Calmejane, Sven Erik Bystrøm, Huub Duijn, Scott Davies, Dion Smith