Conor Dunne fights his way onto podium at Tour de Yorkshire
Conor Dunne combined his aggression and strength and got himself onto the podium.
As he has done so many times in recent years, Conor Dunne combined his strength and aggression on the Tour de Yorkshire.
The Aqua Blue Sport rider ended today’s opening stage with a trip to the podium. He picked up the combativity award for his riding in the breakaway.
And having taken points in the climbers’ competition is also in the mix in that classification for the rest of the weekend.
Dunne’s aggression may have been the talking point from an Irish perspective, but a major crash at the finish was the talk of the race.
A couple of fallers turned to a huge number and the road being completely blocked for all but the front 20 or so.
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The first man down was Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-Scott. He rubbed the wheel in front and took down Katusha-Alpecin’s Marco Haller.
More came down and the road became blocked, though most of the riders were held up rather than hitting the deck themselves.
Groenewegen wins the stage. Conor Dunne at the back of the breakaway; he would prove one of the strongest.
How stage 1 unfolded in Yorkshire
The opening stage took the riders 174km from Bridlington to Scarborough.
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It was won Dutch national champion Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo). He saw off Australia speedster Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and Chris Opie, the Bike Channel-Canyon man lading a great result on British soil.
The final climb of Robin Hood's Bay looked to have split the field and taken the fastest man out of the game. But while they fell back, including the eventual stage winner, they almost all benefitted from a regrouping.
Before the crash-marred final though, Dunne got himself into the main breakaway of the day.
It contained a tidy mix of eight riders and broke free after 15km.
As well as Dunne, also in there were Perrig Quéméneur (Direct Energie), Kamil Gradek (ONE Pro Cycling), Ángel Madrazo (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) and James Lowsley-Williams (Bike Channel-Canyon).
Yoeri Havik (Team Raleigh-GAC) was also present as was Toby Horton (Madison-Genesis) and Etienne Van Empel (Roompot).
Van Empel took the climbers primes at Garrowby Hill at the 55.5km mark and Goathland after 121km.
Dunne was 2nd over the top of the second climb. He was also 2nd on the final climb, which Quéméneur took and Van Empel was 3rd.
Saturday's stage 2 profile at the Tour de Yorkshire.
The battle on Goathland was fierce and split the break and eventually three forged clear; Quéméneur, Dunne and Van Empel.
The breakaway gives up the ghost
The last of those up front were only caught shortly after they dipped inside the 10km to go point. Then the scene was set for a bunch sprint.
Last year’s overall winner Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) had a go close to the finish. But that was short-lived, with the Cofidis lead out men of Nacer Bouhanni bringing him back.
Conor Dunne would finish 104th some 3:47 down while his Irish team mate Matt Brammeier was 119th, 7:43 down.
Aqua Blue Sport’s best finisher on the day was Adam Blythe in 8th. Stage 2 is a shot one of 122km from Tadcaster to Harrogate with just one categorised climb half way through.
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