Tour de Yorkshire 28/04/17 - 30/04/17 2.1

[Pricey_sky]

After two very good editions of the Yorkshire Tour we find this years race starts tomorrow. The Scarborough stage always produces good racing, we should have a sprint on Saturday into Harrogate where they use the same uphill drag finish from the Tour de France stage 1 in 2014, before a brutal day of racing on Sunday that features the cobbled climb of Shibden Wall and 4 steep hills in the final 20km's of racing near Sheffield.

There is also a women's race that runs on the parcours of stage 2 before the men's race finishes.

TV: extended live coverage on ITV4 and brief live coverage on Eurosport.

Startlist: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Tour_de_Yorkshire_2017_Startlist

Previous winners:
2015: Lars Petter Nordhaug
2016: Thomas Voeckler

Stage one, April 28: Bridlington to Scarborough (173km)

Stage two, April 29: Tadcaster to Harrogate (122.5km)

Stage three, April 30: Bradford to Fox Valley, Sheffield (194.5km)

 

[ThePirate81]

Voeckler and Nordhaug were nowhere to be seen this year. Bookwalter or Fraile for the win?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Voeckler and Nordhaug were nowhere to be seen this year. Bookwalter or Fraile for the win?

I expect Kruijswijk to go well.

 

[HelloDolly]

Why is Aqua Blues premier signing Lars P Nordhaug not riding this race ....I presume they signed him to win this ???

The winner will come from SKY or Dimension data

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Sky doing their by now almost usual "let's send 3/4 of a team" trick.

Not great for respecting British cycling.

 

[Netserk]

Final circuit in stage 3:

 

[Red Rick]

Great Britain should get some big one day races, maybe for late in the season. Would be a great addition to the calendar

 

[armchairclimber]

Going to be making a representation to Gary Verity to get a Yorkshire Cobbled Classic organised.

Looking forward to Sunday so much. Will be on Shibden Wall.

Scott Thwaites to have a serious dig at that stage I reckon.

 

[fauniera]

Re:

Final circuit in stage 3:

Any cobbles?

 

[Netserk]

No, not what I've seen.

 

[armchairclimber]

Re: Re:

Final circuit in stage 3:

Any cobbles?

Nope. Cobbles are Haworth and Shibden.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Sky doing their by now almost usual "let's send 3/4 of a team" trick.

Not great for respecting British cycling.

Sky send a full team = get accused of strangling races

Sky send a reduced team = no respect.

At least this way they give others a chance. :lol:

Interestingly BMC have never fielded a full team here.

 

[Robert5091]

Tommy V a.k.a. "tommy the tounge" (Kirby called him once, "the housewives' favourite" ... yep ) - look forward to some top class gurning - he'll be missed.

 

[Fernandez]

Three beautiful stages. The last one looks great for a world championship.

 

[WKA311]

Tao to do a top 5 and be Sky's best finisher. Don't see anyone of them winning though. With the introduction of more hills, Kruiswijk should fancy his chances. Otherwise Bookwalter and Fraile look good. Maybe someone from a British Conti Team.
Really looking forward to the TV images, love the landscape

 

[fauniera]

Don't forget Finetto.

 

[WheelofGear]

Stage 3 is better and harder than Liege-Bastogne-Liege in terms of route design. 4 short, very steep climbs within the last 20k should provide plenty of attacks.

I think we will see a weird GC with no real favorites in the top. Scott Thwaites to surprise, even on the hardest stage.

Young Tao Geoghegan Hart must be the GC man for Sky.

 

[SafeBet]

Tiago Machado will win this bike race.

 

[HelloDolly]

I think the course is very good this year ...unfortunately the field is not as strong as previous years ...

Would have loved to see some strong roulers take this on

 

[armchairclimber]

Looking forward to see how some of the young GB kids do ... James Knox, Christopher Lawless ... and Tao, a good chance for him to show what he is made of.

 

[Korki65]

Re:

I think the course is very good this year ...unfortunately the field is not as strong as previous years ...

Would have loved to see some strong roulers take this on

Have to agree on both counts.
A mate suggested the poor field was due to Boonen's retirement party this weekend. Anyone know if any truth to this?

 

[kev1n]

Re: Re:

Sky doing their by now almost usual "let's send 3/4 of a team" trick.

Not great for respecting British cycling.

Sky send a full team = get accused of strangling races

Sky send a reduced team = no respect.

At least this way they give others a chance. :lol:

Interestingly BMC have never fielded a full team here.

Sky, BMC, DIm Data, Orica, Katusha and Sunweb all have incomplete teams.

 

[Baldinger]

Søren Kragh in decent shape would be a top contender in this race. But he went on a small vacation after the cobbled classics, so perhaps he needs some time to find his legs again.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I think the course is very good this year ...unfortunately the field is not as strong as previous years ...

Would have loved to see some strong roulers take this on

Have to agree on both counts.
A mate suggested the poor field was due to Boonen's retirement party this weekend. Anyone know if any truth to this?

Don't think its this....teams are same as last year but no

Adam Yates , Nicolas Roche, Sammi Sanchez, Gianni Moscon, Peter Kennaugh , R Dennis, Nathan Haas, Steve Cummings, Nicolas Edet, Primoz Roglic, Lars P Nordhaug , J Van deBroek,

most of these are at Romandie or going to the Giro...not at Boonens party

 

[HelloDolly]

MIles Scotson is th one to watch as far as I am concerned ....Scott Twaites, TGH, Fraile & Bibby will also be in the mix