Monday, April 21, 2025

2019 Tour de Yorkshire – Stage 1; Asselman Takes a Surprise Win in Selby

-

HomeRaceRace Reviews2019 Tour de Yorkshire - Stage 1; Asselman Takes a Surprise Win...

The wet weather didn’t dampen the spirits on the opening stage of the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire as Jesper Asselman sprinted to a dramatic breakaway victory in Selby.

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.

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Jesper Asselman takes the win. Photo©SWPix.com

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 Dan 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.

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Dan Bigham. Photo©SWPix.com

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 950th anniversary this year. Flippo Fortin (Cofidis) took second place with Jonas Van Genechten (Vital Concept – B&B Hotels) in third.

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Team Inios enjoy the British summertime. Photo©SWPix.com

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.

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Photo©SWPix.com

After the stage Welcome to Yorkshire Commercial Director Peter Dodd said:

“It’s been a fantastic day. Christian [Prudhomme] and I were blown away by the creativity communities showed to celebrate the race. We saw painted cows and sheep, miles of banners and bunting, and the thousands of schoolchildren lining the route to give an extra special reception.

“Yes, it’s been damp weather but that didn’t dampen the Yorkshire spirit and fantastic images of the county have being broadcast right around the world.

“The shops and eateries offered protection from the rain and looked absolutely packed as we drove through, and I’m sure Doncaster’s fantastic new Market Place must have experienced their busiest day ever. The Tour de Yorkshire is Yorkshire’s greatest street party we’re delighted to see everyone getting involved.

“The racing was really exciting too and no-one knew if the peloton would catch that breakaway. It hung in the balance right until the end making it another classic finish. It sets up the next three stages nicely now and we’re looking forward to seeing what Barnsley to Bedale delivers us.

“Of course, the Asda Tour de Yorkshire Women’s Race will add another brilliant sporting contest and we look forward to welcoming even more of the world’s best riders.”

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Jesper Asselman. Photo©SWPix.com

Stage winner and race leader Jesper Asselman said:

“This is definitely the biggest victory of my career and I still can’t believe it. It’s really awesome and I will never forget today.

“The plan was to get in the break and go for the best climber’s jersey. On the climb I had no explosivity in my legs though so I was angry. I kept pushing out of frustration but I thought we’d get caught because the gap was going down really fast in the last 50km.

We kept riding really hard and everyone worked well together. In the last few kilometres I realised it might be possible and gambled to start my sprint at the right moment. I went full gas and looked under my elbow near the line and saw there was a big gap behind and I couldn’t believe I was going to win.

“We are really happy with this result and it was a beautiful victory. Now let’s see what happens about defending the leader’s jersey. The last day looks really tough but maybe this jersey will give me an extra boost.

“Yorkshire is an awesome place to ride your bike and the fans are always incredible. It’s fantastic that they came out in this weather and it gives you goosebumps to ride through crowds like that. It’s really cool to be here – like being in one of the Classics or the Grand Tours – the public are so enthusiastic. I will never forget today.”

2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Photo©SWPix.com

Brief Results

  1. Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 4:05:4
  2. Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
  3. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
  4. Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
  5. Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol

General Classification after stage one

  1. Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 4:05:34
  2. Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:05
  3. Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
  4. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:00:07
  5. Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
2019 Tour de Yorkshire
Photo©SWPix.com

Full results and information on the Tour de Yorkshire and Asda Tour de Yorkshire Women’s Race can be found at letouryorkshire.com

Martin Williamson
Martin Williamson
Martin is our Editor and web site Designer/Manager and concentrates on photography. He's been involved in cycle racing for over four decades and raced for much of that time, having a varied career which included time trials, road and track racing, and triathlons. Martin has been the Scottish 25 Mile TT and 100 Mile TT Champion, the British Points Race League Champion on the track, and he won a few time trials in his day, particularly hilly ones like the Tour de Trossachs and the Meldons MTT.

Related Articles

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 4: Abbeville – Rouen, 214 km.

Maybe it’s our fault? Yesterday we said that ‘barring Acts of God,’ Cav would win. We got it half right; there was an almighty ‘Act of God’ with South African champion Robbie Hunter bouncing around the road like a rubber doll and a whole clutch of riders biting the dust. As the director cut to close up and what was happening at the crash site, there was Cav sitting on the tar, stunned. He’s a tough wee soul – ''stoic is the word, I think. Abbeville.

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 1: Liège – Seraing 198 km.

As Dave said during the Tour de Suisse; ‘Sagan’s winning just for fun.’ And that’s how it looked today. It’s not just his speed in the sprint and up the inclines; it’s his ability to read the race - he didn’t waste himself by marking Chava but was on Cancellara like a ferret. Add to that the confidence which enable him to ignore Capo Cancellara’s flicked elbows and switches and you have all the ingredients off the most exciting prospect cycling has seen since V de B.

Le Tour de France 2016 – Stage 1; Mont-Saint-Michel – Utah Beach. It’s About Cav

The Friday evening prior to the Grand Depart at Mont-Saint-Michel, we're in the Amritsar Indian restaurant in Kirkcaldy – Callum, Dave and I agree that Cav has won his last Tour de France stage, Kittel and Greipel will be the men, and that the 32 stage wins record of Merckx is safe – as is Hinault’s second spot on 28 stage wins. Mark will have to be happy with his 26 bouquets. Not for the first or last time, the little chap from the middle of the Irish Sea made us eat our words; "Cav can never win Milan-Sanremo..."

The Scottish Road Race Championship 2010 – Endura Whitewash!

Evan Oliphant (Endura) lead his team to a whitewash of the Scottish Road Race Championship 2010 on Saturday afternoon over a sunny but windswept course near Eaglesham. Track and criterium specialist, James McCallum was second with the man who so much wanted to win - Gary Hand, in third spot.

At Random

John Archibald – On the Cusp of a New Adventure

The last time we spoke to John Archibald he’d just won the Scottish Road Race Championship; since then he’s won a medal in the inaugural ‘mixed’ TTT Worlds in Harrogate, ridden well in the individual Worlds TT, enjoyed a World Cup in Minsk which saw him bested only by Filippo Ganna in the individual pursuit...

Rick Zabel – All Set For the Classics With BMC

The German Junior Madison Championships came Rick Zabel’s way in 2009 with more track podiums at national junior level in 2010 in the points, team pursuit and Madison. There were a raft of strong junior road results in 2011 with a fifth place in the Junior Worlds as a high point. His first year as a U23 in 2012 saw him lift the national U23 road race title for Rabobank Continental for whom he also won the U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2013. Last year saw him step up to the World Tour with BMC Racing Team and land a share of a win in the Tour of Trentino TTT.

Dan Patten Blog: The Storm is Over (I Hope)

So my latest update on the Dan Patten Blog tells about the run of bad luck which continued through July and into August, including a collision with a car and less than a week later getting taken down by a bidon during the third stage of the Ronde van de Provincie Antwerpen.

Mark Stewart – “It’s all about the track”

The last time we spoke to 22 year-old Scotsman Mark Stewart he’d just ridden a cracking U23 Road Worlds in Bergen – cue total contrast from big blue skies, solitude, fjords and fresh air to The Kuipke with light about as artificial as you can get, wall to wall people, scary steep boards and the smell of burgers frying ... and Jupiler pils. Mark’s partner for the six nights of Europop and autograph requests was Worlds U23 road race fourth placed man and GB team mate, Ollie Woods. The interview was conducted in the authentic but cramped surroundings of his trackside cabin at the Kuipke.