BMC Racing Team's Samuel Sánchez made the decisive split on the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire Friday and finished fourth, while teammate Greg Van Avermaet won the sprint from a reduced chase group and placed sixth.

Sánchez was part of a group of fewer than two dozen riders that split from the peloton inside the last 40 kilometers of the 174-km race. But only four others could stay with the 2008 Olympic road race champion as he was first to top the final climb of the day, at Robin Hood's Bay.

The five leaders saw their lead peak at 55 seconds with five kilometers to go. Sánchez led out the sprint but could not hold off Lars-Peter Nordhaug (Team Sky), who took the win ahead of Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis, Solutions Credits). Van Avermaet's group arrived 1:10 seconds later. 

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Jackson Stewart said he does not expect the overall standings to change significantly with only two stages to go in the inaugural version of the race. Nordhaug leads Voeckler by four seconds, with Rossetto six seconds back. Sánchez and Nordhaug's teammate, Philip Deignan, are at 10 seconds. Van Avermaet is seventh overall and among a group of riders 1:20 off the lead.

"Anything can happen on the last stage, but those five guys were the strongest today and on the last day they will probably be the strongest again," Stewart said. "But I think they have a pretty healthy lead. I don't think it is going to change so much."