Tour de Yorkshire: Jesper Asselman sprints to surprise stage one victory

The riders received a warm welcome in Doncaster’s Market Place at the start of the day and continued to be cheered along by the sizeable crowds who braved the elements to see the world’s best riders in action.

The towns and villages along the 182.5km route turned out in force with 160,000 people in attendance according to police figures. Many were waving flags and banners, and yellow and blue bunting was hanging everywhere.

Six riders forged ahead in the breakaway and Jacob Bingham (Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes) was the first rider to crest the Cote de Baggaby Hill, earning him a spell in the best climber’s jersey sponsored by LNER.

Once that prize had been decided, the escapes continued to work well together and Daniel Bigham was voted the most active rider via a live poll at @letouryorkshire. That means the Ribble Pro Cycling rider will wear the grey jersey sponsored by Dimension Data in Friday’s stage from Barnsley to Bedale.

Fearing a repeat of Harry Tanfield’s breakaway win on the opening stage last year, the peloton kept the break on a relatively tight leash but history was to repeat itself as the frontrunners once again evaded their pursuers.

Asselman picked the right line in the last 100m and unleashed an unstoppable sprint to take the stage win in front of the magnificent Selby Abbey, which is celebrating its 950thanniversary this year. Flippo Fortin (Cofidis) took second place with Jonas Van Genechten (Vital Concept – B&B Hotels) in third.

That victory meant that Asselman took control of the blue leader’s jersey sponsored by Yorkshire Bank and bonus seconds accrued at the line saw him open a four-second lead at the top of the general classification. The Roompot–Charles rider tops the points classification but Fortini will wear the green jersey sponsored by Asda on Friday as he sits second in that competition.