World title is now in sights as champion van Avermaet shows he was not along just for the ride
Cyclists are a hardy bunch, none more so than Rotherham’s Ben Swift, who Peter Smith caught up with at the end of the Tour de Yorkshire.
WHEN eventual winner Greg van Avermaet confirmed his attendance at the Tour de Yorkshire it was easy to think the Belgian was coming to the county with one eye on next year.
Van Avermaet is, after all, the Olympic road race champion, a winner of Monument Classics and two stages of the Tour de France.
Next September’s UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, therefore, would show up large on the radar of one of the finest one-day cyclists on the planet.
But any thoughts he was coming to the fourth annual Tour de Yorkshire purely to get a feel for next year were misplaced.
Van Avermaet’s overall victory, after three top-10 finishes and a commanding ride on the punishing final stage from Halifax to Leeds, highlighted his huge respect for a race that is growing in stature, among the peloton and cycling insiders, with every edition.
“My main motivation was the spectators because I know how many people come here,” said the 32-year-old BMC rider, who has finished second on four occasions in races in Yorkshire.
“I was here for the Tour de France, the first Tour de Yorkshire and what I remember is a great atmosphere and fun riding. It’s an open race, maybe not the strongest field, but we have a lot of fun and we try to race as hard as possible.”
Van Avermaet certainly did just that over the course of the four days as he started to build a body of stage work ahead of his primary goal for the season, July’s Tour de France.
He was second on the Tour de Yorkshire’s first summit finish up the Cow and Calf in Ilkley last Friday, eighth into Scarborough the following afternoon and runner-up to lone winner Stephane Rossetto on the Headrow two days ago.
Active throughout the entire four days, he says it is the variety of challenge the Tour de Yorkshire presents its cyclists that lured back the Classics specialist.
This year’s men’s race, expanded to four days for the first time, offered two sprint stages and two more suited to the strong men and climbers.
“It was pretty similar to three years ago, there was just an even bigger crowd,” said Van Avermaet of this year’s spectacle, which was watched by an estimated 2.6m fans at the roadside, including 900,000 on the final day.
“I really like the parcours (route) now that it’s four days, it opens up the race and makes it more interesting to watch.
“It’s a better standard of parcours than some races you get on the continent.
“This race has a lot of potential because of the crowds.
“Cycling is a sport of the people and it’s great to see so many people supporting the race.”
The Broad Acres will host two major events on the cycling calendar next year with the Tour de Yorkshire acting as a rehearsal for the World Championships.
Nobody has yet won back-toback Tours de Yorkshire and Van Avermaet is not ruling out an attempt to retain his winner’s blue jersey.
He said: “I will see. We still have to see how the programme pans out, but I think if I have a chance then maybe I will come back to defend this title.”
HE has raced all over the world, but Yorkshireman Ben Swift says there is no place like home.
The 30-year-old from Rotherham made his comeback, after suffering a fractured vertebrae last month, by completing the full 701.5 kilometres of the fourth Tour de Yorkshire.
Riding for the Great Britain team, Swift was 33rd out of 98 finishers on the general classification in a time of 16 hours, 42 minutes and 47 seconds, four minutes and 47 seconds behind winner Greg van Avermaet.
The race was another triumph for organisers Welcome to Yorkshire and Amaury Sport
Organisation and the county as a whole. An estimated 2.6million spectators lined the route, with 900,000 turning out in sweltering sunshine on the final day.
“The race has been fantastic,” said Swift as he caught his breath at the end of what the organisers say was the most successful edition in the event’s history.
“The weather has obviously helped with that, but, in general, everybody has grown to love the Tour de Yorkshire and last weekend did nothing but help that. You saw the best of Yorkshire there, the people, the atmosphere and the racing.”
Swift crashed out when he rode the Tour de Yorkshire three years ago and was pleased to be among the finishers on his return.
“I had no doubts about finishing it,” he insisted. “The only way I generally don’t finish races is if I crash out like I did last time. It has been unfortunate I’ve not been able to come back, but, hopefully, I’ll come back next year being able to target this race.
“I came into it massively unknown after breaking my back only three weeks ago. We are really happy with the work I’ve done here and it would be nice to target this race in the future.”
The addition of an extra, fourth, stage allowed the race planners to provide a more balanced course with two sprinters’ finishes, a summit finale and the hilly final stage.
The women’s race was doubled to two days this year and Swift feels the expansion of both has boosted the profile and made for a more spectacular competition.
“It has really added to it,” he said. “The women’s race is a massive achievement and wouldn’t it be great to see that grow on? For them, it is great to get the live coverage from the start to the finish.”
Though van Avermaet snatched the maillot bleu, the leader’s blue jersey, from Magnus Cort Nielsen in the final 20 kilometres, the fourth stage witnessed arguably the Tour de Yorkshire’s finest individual ride.
Frenchman Stephane Rossetto broke clear more than 110kms from the line and rode alone to an astonishing victory, 34 seconds ahead of second-placed van Avermaet.
“That was rather impressive,” was Swift’s assessment of the Cofidis rider’s great escape.
For Swift, who normally rides for UAE Team Emirates, last week was all about easing his way back to form and fitness and helping support members of the young national squad, including Leeds’ Tom Pidcock, who finished 89th overall, 18 minutes, 34 seconds down on the winner.
“I thought we were really good,” said Swift.
“James Shaw is a World Tour rider, but all the others are Under-23s and two of them were juniors last year.
“The way they showed themselves and committed to one another was good and, hopefully, I passed on some experience and gave them a bit of education along the way.”