Tour de Yorkshire: Dylan Groenewegen wins first stage

The 174km stage from Bridlington was decided by a matter of millimetres as LottoNL Jumbo's Groenewegen beat Ewan in a photo finish, while Cornwall's Chris Opie of Bike Channel Canyon came home in third.

Behind, it was Ewan's Orica-Scott team-mate Magnus Cort who was sandwiched between two riders and hit the deck, causing a huge crash which brought down several others.

Dozens of riders headed back to their team buses in bad shape, and it was soon confirmed that Cort, Marco Haller of Katusha, and JLT Condor's Yorkshireman Russ Downing were all out of the race with broken collarbones - with the possibility of others to follow.

The crash came after the peloton regrouped following the final climb of the day, the Cote de Robin Hood's Bay.

That left several lead-out trains to battle for road space in Scarborough - where the finish line had been brought forward several hundred metres due to the threat of waves crashing over the wall at high tide.

"It was really hard, the last climb was too hard for me, but the team was waiting for me at the top and then I could sprint," said Groenewegen, who took victory 12 months ago in Settle.

"The race likes me and I like the race."

But it was less kind to several others. While some headed to hospital, others were left licking their wounds.

Groenewegen's team-mate Steven Kruiswijk - here to prepare for the upcoming Giro d'Italia - hit the deck but the team said initial checks suggested he was okay. Also tasting the tarmac was Team Sky's Tao Geoghegan Hart in his first race for the team on home soil.

The 22-year-old has been handed the freedom to test himself in the general classification competition, but will have to see how quickly he recovers from some bumps and bruises before Sunday's testing stage three to Fox Valley, which is expected to be decisive.

"Tao's got some bruises and some skin off," said Team Sky sporting director Servais Knaven. "We will see how good he is. He has a free role here, he can go for GC. I think this is the perfect race for the young guys to see where they can be."

A lumpy stage through the North Yorkshire Moors had been animated by an eight-man break including Gloucestershire rider James Lowsley-Williams (Bike Channel-Canyon), Guernsey's Tobyn Horton (Madison Genesis) and Irishman Conor Dunne of Aqua Blue Sport.

They held an advantage of around two-and-a-half minutes after the punishing Cote de Goathland climb, the start of which was signalled to riders by the toot of a steam train waiting in the station.

But after passing huge crowds waiting in Whitby, the break began to fragment and Dunne attacked 36km from home, with only Direct-Energie's Perrig Quemeneur and Roompot Nederlandse Loterij's Etienne van Empel able to respond.

The Cote de Robin Hood's Bay proved their undoing and it all came back together on the approach to Scarborough.

After Sky shut down a late attack from last year's overall winner Thomas Voeckler of Direct Energie, Orica-Scott took control on the front in a bid to guide Ewan home, only for Groenwegen to steal a march as the crash ripped through the pack.

"Dylan just got a jump on all of us," Ewan said. "I was coming back at him but just didn't get back in time."

Final leading positions after Stage 1, (Bridlington - Scarborough - 174km):
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 4hrs 09mins 38secs
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott at same time
3 Chris Opie (Gbr) Bike Channel Canyon
4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
5 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling
6 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
7 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij
8 Adam Blythe (Gbr) Aqua Blue Sport
9 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
10 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Team Raleigh GAC
11 Jacob Hennessy (Gbr) Great Britain
12 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
13 S0ren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
14 Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie
15 Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
16 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
17 Jonathan McEvoy (Gbr) Madison Genesis
18 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
19 Alex Frame (NZl) JLT Condor
20 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits all at same time

Selected others:
32 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky at same time
54 Jonathan Dibben (Gbr) Team Sky all at same time
78 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky at 01min 14secs
81 Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky at 01min 28secs
95 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr) Team Sky at 02mins 12secs
104 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport at 03mins 47secs
119 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport at 07mins 43secs

Leading general classification after stage 1:
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 4hrs 09mins 28secs
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott at 04secs
3 Chris Opie (Gbr) Bike Channel Canyon at 06secs
4 Angel Madrazo (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM at 08secs
5 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at 10secs
6 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling at same time
7 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
8 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij
9 Adam Blythe (Gbr) Aqua Blue Sport
10 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
11 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Team Raleigh GAC
12 Jacob Hennessy (Gbr) Great Britain
13 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
14 S0ren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
15 Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie
16 Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
17 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
18 Jonathan McEvoy (Gbr) Madison Genesis
19 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
20 Alex Frame (NZl) JLT Condor all at same time,

Selected others:
33 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky at same time
54 Jonathan Dibben (Gbr) Team Sky
77 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
83 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr) Team Sky all at same time
108 Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky at 01min 38secs
119 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport at 03mins 57secs
126 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport at 07mins 53secs