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Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Kirsten Wild has taken the opening stage of the two-day Tour de Yorkshire, between Beverley and Doncaster in a dominant sprint over the rest of the peloton. The 34-year-old Dutch sprinter crossed the line a bike length clear of former World Champion Amelie Dideriksen (Boels-Dolmans) on the same finishing straight where she took what was a one-day Yorkshire race in 2016, with Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) a close third. 
“I’m really happy with a finish like this,” Wild said afterwards. “When I heard it was the same finish like two years ago I got pretty excited already. It’s really cool to win, and after such hard work from my team. They really worked hard the whole day and, yeah, it makes it even more cool to win.” The 132km stage saw Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling riders to the fore from start to finish, with World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champion Katie Archibald keeping an early break under control, Italian Champion Elisa Longo Borghini alive to any possible counterattacks over the top of the day’s only categorised climb and Japanese Champion Eri Yonamine policing the front of the bunch in the second half. The entire team brought Wild to the head of the race as the final kilometres ticked down, but a mistake on a roundabout from a Canyon-SRAM rider at the head of the peloton meant that lead out rider Rachele Barbieri was forced to hit the front earlier than planned. Wild, consequently was forced to hit the front sooner than expected, but the experienced Dutchwoman was cool enough to bide her time before launching her devastating sprint. 
“I was looking to see if I could wait a little bit because Canyon made a mistake at the last corner and we were a bit too early on the front,” she explained. “I didn’t want to push the other sprinters. “It might look easy, but it’s never, with a sprint it’s a maximum effort!” Wild’s victory gives the Dutchwoman the blue jersey of overall race leader, which she will wear on Friday’s second and final stage between Barnsley and the Cow and Calf climb on Ilkley Moore. With such a hard finish to what will be a very tough stage, however, the sprinter is under no illusions as to her own personal chances of victory. “I think we don’t defend my [blue] jersey, but we try to get the [blue] jersey for the team,” she said. “In Lisa [Brennauer] and Elisa we have really strong riders and I think they are made for this course tomorrow - and I’m not! “So I think it will be interesting for our team, and I hope I can do something back for these girls.” 
Result Photo Credit: Sean Robinson/Vélofocus |
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